The Timeless Value of a Mended Friend
by Green Tea Bubbles
Summary: A twist on the usual Team 7 time travel. All three are granted a second chance, back as babies in the same timeline. Except none of them know that the others are back too and all three have different plans for the future. Sakura wants to prevent a war. Sasuke wants to start one. And Naruto? He just wants Team 7 back, and maybe he'll even save Konoha in the process.
1. Prologue

**AN: **New story guys, my second multi-chap. I'm quite excited about this, but as it is, I can't promise regular updates. My muse comes and goes for things like this, so it's all tentative for the time being. Nevertheless, even if it's quite different from what I usually write, I hope you enjoy this :)

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto, unfortunately. But kudos to Kishimoto for finishing it!

* * *

><p><em><span><strong>Prologue<strong>_

* * *

><p><strong>Sakura<strong>

_Sakura feels ethereal._

_She feels powerful, as if she can transcend time, space, all of the universe._

_As if she already has._

_Sakura is dead._

Sakura smiles.

Her head is light, her body bubbly, and she feels wrapped in a cocoon of something precious, delicate, and effeminate. Even though her eyes are closed, she can feel the overwhelming warmth of the white light shining upon her, engulfing her being.

It is a comforting feeling, one she has not felt in a very long time.

Sakura openes her mouth and breathes again, taking in the clean air. It's free of smoke, and dust, and ash, and nothing smells of decay and death. Rather, she can feel spring tingling on her toes, the scent of roses and old lavender.

Old lavender – like the perfume her mother used to love.

Sakura takes in another guttural breath, inhaling the sweet scent. It's been awhile since she's seen her mother – she had made sure to move her parents away from Konoha once the war started, to a town far far away from the fighting. Are they even alive now? She hopes so.

She'll visit them once the war is over, once the fighting stops. When Madara is dead and gone-

Sakura chokes.

Sakura _remembers. _

She remembers the Final Battle.

Not the battle which ended the war. That one was tame compared to this one. This battle which which _Sasuke started that CAUSED ANOTHER FUCKING WAR WASN'T ONE ENOUGH FOR HIM-_

Sakura's eyes snap open.

A lone bulb sways above her, but there's a string of toys arching over her cradle, casting millions of shadows across her vision, dancing like stars.

_I'm dead, _she realises.

_This is my heaven. _

So she cries, and cries, staring at the toys which dangle above her which seem all too familiar but unreachable at the same time. Vaguely she hears footsteps, but _fuck _if she cares after all Sasuke's just been a fucking _twat _and who knew if Naruto was alive or not but what would Konoha do without their _Hokage-_

The footsteps reach a stop. Right next to her.

Suddenly, a face encompasses her vision, young, full of life and smiling.

Sakura freezes, and stares up in shock.

It's _her father. _

"Hello Sakura-chan," he coos, and her eyes dance over his features, memorising every contour, every colour illuminated in her vision. She's dead – yes, but _he's _here – so is he dead too? But that would mean that they'd been found, and her _mother-_

Sakura starts crying again.

"Oh no," her father sighs, "Don't cry."

Then he reaces down and scoops her up, and through the tears Sakura can make out the other features of her old room, but _why is everything so big-_

"Nanami!" her father calls, "Sakura's crying again! I think she's hungry!"

A new onslaught of tears break through at her mother's name, flowing and flowing down her fat cheeks, clouding up her face and ears till she can't hear a single word that's being said.

Another face appears above her, and this time it's her _mother._

Sakura barely has time to process the shock, the _love, _before her mother takes her from her father's arms and snuffles her in her chest.

And Sakura realises –

_I'm a baby._

And then her world splinters, because she realises that this is a _second chance._

I can change things. I can change _the future. _

* * *

><p><strong>Sasuke<strong>

_Sasuke feels tired._

_He feels wise, as if he's lived through beauty and horrors, seen all the magic of the universe._

_As if he's lived and died._

_Sasuke is dead._

Sasuke had always been a pragmatic child.

His parents are discussing him again, and it's high time he starts putting those skills he's been practicing to use. Sasuke takes a deep breath and begins his descent down the stairs. His progress is slow - very slow - but there's nothing more he can do in an awkward toddler body. Finally, he makes it reasonably far down enough to spike some chakra to his ears - a trick Sakura had taught him - to eavesdrop on his parents.

"Fugaku," he hears his mother say, "Don't push him. You know Itachi was a prodigy. The chances of it happening again are slim to none. Don't do this to Sasuke."

"Mikoto," his father replies politely, but his tone has a hint of warning. "You don't need to worry."

The statement comes out more of an order than a reassurance.

Sasuke sighs. He knows this conversation - it's the same conversation he's heard millions of times. The Uchiha are still riding the high of Itachi's genius, and Fugaku is hoping he'll be the same. Not that it'll happen, because even though Sasuke's armed with years of knowledge and control, his body at this stage is not equipped to deal with it. Even now, he is still weaker than Itachi.

"He's only one," his mother says, tone with a hint of pleading - but not too obvious. That would be unacceptable, as Uchiha never plead.

"I know," Fugaku replies, a hint of annoyance beginning to betray his voice. "And he will be two soon. I will administer the same test I gave to Itachi. That is final."

There's a beat of silence, and Sasuke can almost _see _his mother's look of frustration.

Finally, there's a sigh. "I'm going to take Sasuke to the market."

"Of course," Fugaku replies graciously, "We need eggs."

Sasuke sighs and leans back against the wall. A second later, his mother emerges.

"Come Sasuke," she says gently, "Let's go to the market."

He follows her down obediently, head high and shoulders squared. He may be a quarter the size of Fugaku but he will refuse to let this man rule his life second time around. This time things are going to be different. He's going to change things, fix things for the _better._

He knows what to do know, even if it's taken a death.

His mother unlocks the door, not sparing his father another glance. Sasuke steps out after her and glances at Itachi, reading serenely on the porch.

"Going to the market?" His otouto asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," Sasuke answers back evenly.

Itachi nods before turning to their mother. "Don't forget to buy tomatoes."

Sasuke winces.

"I won't," Mikoto says firmly. She turns to Sasuke, a corner of her lips tilted down in a frown. "You must eat all your vegetables Sasuke, they'll help you grow big and strong, like Itachi."

Sasuke's lips curl down into a deep frown. He hates tomatoes, hates what they remind him of. Of a past life, a _failed _life, and shared tomato soup with Sakura and Naruto with the campfire blazing brightly or was it a campfire was it just a fire that destroyed and destroyed and _destroyed-_

"Otouto," Itachi says gently, leaning down and clasping a hand on his shoulder. Sasuke snaps out of his reverie and locks onto his brother's eyes – eyes that he had once gouged out.

Sasuke shivers.

"Otouto," Itachi repeats, "Vegetables are good for you. You should eat them."

Sasuke smiles sardonically. That was always like Itachi – looking out for everyone else. He never cared for himself. But that didn't matter. Sasuke would fix it this time around. Pulling the strings from the edges, he'd _change _things.

This will be a new life.

* * *

><p><strong>Naruto<strong>

_Naruto feels lonely._

_He feels empty, as if all the bonds, the magic he had made have disintegrated._

_As if he's back to being hated._

_Naruto is dead._

Naruto sits in the back of the Academy classroom, surveying the class.

It's the first day of his schooling, the Hokage's gift for him on his fifth birthday.

He looks down at the people he's seen live and die. People he's seen betray him, people he's seen love him. He looks down at his people.

Except he isn't Hokage anymore. He's just a little boy.

Naruto chuckles softly.

In front of him, a civilian boy looks back and snarls, revolted. Next to him, Sakura plays with her hair, staring at the back of Sasuke's head.

Naruto swallows harshly. Sakura he killed. Indirectly, but killed nonetheless.

She's so young now, full of life, green eyes wide, romanticising Uchiha Sasuke in a way her older self would never be able to do so again.

He'll do things right this time around. Sakura won't die. Neither, as a fact, will Sasuke.

He risks another glance at his old (future?) teammate. He sits tall and proud next to another Uchiha boy, a cousin of some sorts. His posture is impeccable, as expected of Fugaku's son, but his eyes occasionally drift this way and that, betraying his inattention.

Sometimes they flicker to Sakura, Naruto notices. Did they do that before? He can't seem to remember.

He looks back at Sakura. For a second her green eyes flash, replaced by something dark, sinister, festering with hate-

But then it's gone.

_Maybe I'm imagining things, _Naruto thinks. After all, that's a look he's seen plenty of times. On an older Sakura, on an older Sasuke, even on himself. He must've projected his thoughts onto Sakura. The girl at this age – even the bumbling twelve year old – would never be able to muster up enough emotion for something that deeply entrenched.

Naruto glances back to Sasuke. For a second they meet eyes – _had he been staring at him? – _but then Sasuke looks away again. There'd been a flash of recognition – he's sure of that-

Or maybe he was dreaming again.

After all, he's alone this time around, just like always.

Except he won't be soon. This time around, he'll fix things, make things _better._

_I can change the future. This will be a new life._

Within his belly, Kurama stirs.

* * *

><p>"<em>I have to keep up appearances-"<em>

"**They must not know I came back-"**

"But I'll have to train, in secret. I can't be-"

"_-unprepared this time around. That won't do."_

"**Chidori's good but it's not enough. Maybe-"**

"-a new version of the rasengan? But I can't do that with-"

"_-this body. Medical jutsu is it then. Though it'll still be useful knowing-"_

"**-all those stupid missions Team 7 always seem to get."**

"I must keep my secret though."

"_I will show no weakness-"_

"**-or mercy, so that I may-"**

"...time travel. What a curious, curious seal. Who'd have thought Kurama's little trick really worked?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>So, there's the prologue, a little taste of what's to come. Chapters coming will be longer, of course, but this is just a little setting the scene :)

But still, I'd like your opinions, so it'd be great if you could answer some of these questions:

Do you want them to find out about each other time travelling back? And if so, how soon?

Do you like the format of all three in one chap? Or would you like single chapters for each of the characters?

Thanks guys!


	2. The Early Years

**AN: **Unfortunately guys, this chapter turned out very filleresque. I needed to establish the setting in the timeline, which is why this chapter is very... filler like.

So yeah, sorry about that. But anyway, hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>The Early Years<strong>_

* * *

><p><strong>Sakura<strong>

"…and you're free to go now. Don't forget to do your homework kids though! I know that it's only your first day, but it's paramount that as ninja, you take your duty seriously." Iruka gives them a nervous smile before turning back to Azumi-sensei.

"Good job," Azumi says to Iruka, patting the newly minted chuunin on the back. It's his first day on the job and it shows, Sakura thinks. He doesn't really think a bunch of five year olds knows what paramount means, does he? They can barely grasp the concept of duty.

Nevertheless, Sakura takes her textbook and dutifully folds down the corner of the page of homework for the week.

All around her, the kids are already scrambling up. Funnily enough, even though Sakura's been praised for her fantastic memory, she can't remember her first few years of childhood. She remembers the bullying clearly, but even that didn't start until her second year at the Academy. In fact, did she even like Sasuke at this age? Better to keep the ruse up anyway, just in case.

Sasuke at five is still a prat though. But now that his face is free of the damaging effects of overuse of the mangekyou, Sakura is reminded every time she looks at him of his beauty before power corrupted it. It will be a face which withstands the tests of time, the tests of the cursed seal, but one which will ultimately be scarred and deformed by the mangekyou.

It is truly a devastating weapon, the mangekyou, and now that Sakura is back, she is going to do everything in her power to stop Sasuke from gaining the sharingan. After all, it will rip the world apart, that thing.

Which means that Wave is never going to happen, not if she can help it.

Sakura quickly glances over at Sasuke, making sure to blush as she does so. He's chatting animatedly – well, as animatedly as he can – with Hyuuga Hinata, interestingly enough. Hinata too is lot more confident than her older self, which is strange. What had caused such a drastic change in the young girl? She even looks… _Hyuuga. _

But if Hinata's independent this time around, for one reason or another, that means that Naruto is absolutely alone. Sakura pauses, contemplating a glance back. She's avoided contact with him to the best of her ability so far – not that it's any difficult, considering her parents buy into the same propaganda sold on the Nine Tail's destruction – and the most she's seen of him is little glances in the market.

She hates leaving him alone this time around – and kami it's been _five years – _but she _knows _that she must keep the past the same – then, it's predictable, and the future will play out just as it's supposed to. And that means leaving Naruto alone, even though she knows he's hurting. But she'll make it up to him. Once everything is done and dusted.

If the past's predictable, then she can control it. This time, things will _end_ after the Fourth Shinobi War – for _good. _She'll get Sasuke, kunai him between the ribs, before he can ever think of starting another war.

She glances over at Sasuke again. The bastard really does look innocent.

"Hey, you wanna play?"

Sakura starts, whirling around quickly, hands instinctively reaching for her kunai pouch – even though it's not there.

Ami stands in front of her, excited look on her baby cheeks. Immediately Sakura registers that this is the girl that would later tease her about her forehead.

"Sorry," Sakura says, for more reasons than one. "I have to go home."

"That's cool," Ami shrugs, before moving on to the girl next to her. Sakura releases a deep breath – she's got a lot to work on if a simple civilian _child _can startle her – even more if she can't sense her coming.

She frowns – she's been storing chakra into her Strength of One Hundred Seal, building it back up in her forehead – but perhaps her excess chakra would be better use honing her skills to the level they were before.

Sakura hops off the desk and waddles – she can't even call her walk a walk – out the door and into her courtyard. Class had finished at two, but she'd told her parents to pick her up at five. That gave her three hours to work on her training.

She supposes the first thing to do would be build up her chakra reserves – after all, as a civilian she's already disadvantaged, but she's not quite sure how to do that. Her reserves had been built up with Tsunade-sama's help, except her old mentor's techniques were much too intense and would be stultifying for the growth of someone her age.

Which meant she needed specialist help – more specifically, training received by children in clans.

Then came the question of which clan. Her easiest choice would be the Yamanaka as Ino would probably be the easiest to befriend, except the Yamanaka clan's specialised jutsu meant that they concentrated on chakra control – one of the reasons why Ino also learnt medical ninjutsu. And Sakura certainly didn't need any help in that sector.

That left the other girls – boys of course, she would never talk to. Not at this age, if she was to remain inconspicuous. Except the only other clan girl was Hinata, unless she wanted to seek out girls from other years. Maybe Kiba's sister? Hana?

Sakura shook her head. That wouldn't do – she'd attract too much attention. Which meant Hinata.

Plan formulated, Sakura steps back and waits outside the classroom for Hinata to emerge.

She's barely waited a minute before the young girl emerges – followed by Sasuke.

Instinctively her eyes shoot to his and her body locks up. Her heart is beating a strong, familiar rhythm, a steady _thud thud_ against her chest. She hasn't talked to him – has seen him less than Naruto, in fact, considering how isolated the Uchiha are at this time – and this is the first time she's seen him in full, five years old and uncorrupted.

Sasuke looks up at Sakura, and his speech falters.

"Sasuke," Sakura blurts out. Then she curses inwardly – _what was that? _Immediately, she plasters a fake look of adoration. "Sasuke-kun," she corrects herself. "Hello Hinata-chan!"

"Hello," Hinata says calmly but firmly. "Sakura-san is it?"

Sakura nods robotically, determinedly ignoring Sasuke's penetrating gaze. Even for a five-year-old he's intimidating.

"I was wondering if you wanted to hang out?"

Ami emerges a second later and glares at her, along with another civilian girl. _Kami, _the back of Sakura's mind thinks, _is this what made her dislike me?_

In front of her Hinata has her lips parted in surprise, displaying the vulnerability that would overtake her later in life.

"Really?" she asks quietly.

"Yeah," Sakura says with a gentle smile. Sasuke's still staring at her.

"Wow," Hinata whispers. "No one's ever asked me that before."

Sakura's eyes soften. They were probably all too terrified. The heiress position is often stigmatised and envied to extremes. The heir position too, to be honest. She glances quickly at Sasuke – his gaze is obscured now by his bangs, but his lips are curled into a smirk. A lurch of distaste rises up her stomach – he reminds her now of the cruel and callous Sasuke who declared another war.

"Let's go now eh?" she says, resolutely ignoring the Uchiha as she turns her attention back to Hinata. "Do you like the park?"

Hinata's eyes shift to the door. "Otou-san says I should train until he picks me up."

Sakura's smile widens. Even better. "That's fine. We can do that to!"

Hinata breaks into a smile. "Really? You – you wouldn't mind?"

"Of course not," Sakura says gently.

Hinata turns back to Sasuke.

"Do you want to come?"

Sakura's heart plummets. _Say no say no say no say no-_

"Unfortunately, my mum's expecting me," Sasuke says quietly, and Sakura's heart soars. His speech is much too eloquent for a five-year-old but then again, he's always been articulate.

"That's fine," Sakura says, a bit too quickly. She links arms with Hinata who starts before resolutely dragging the other girl away.

"So," Sakura says casually, "Uchiha Sasuke eh? Is he your friend?"

Hinata wrinkles her nose. "No! Boys have cooties! But otou-san says I should talk to him because he's the Uchiha second son…"

* * *

><p><strong>Sasuke<strong>

"…because he's the Uchiha second son."

Sasuke scoffs. That's the usual mode of thinking these days. _Because he's the second son. _Everybody sucked up to him because of his position. Girls sucked up to him because of his looks. Even Sakura, arguably the most intelligent person of their generation sans Shikamaru, was originally infatuated with him because of his looks. Nobody ever really knew _Sasuke. _

He swallows harshly as the door swings open behind him. Naruto shuffles out, brushing past him without sparing him another look. Naruto… no doubt he'd shout at him, try to dissuade him from his plans if he knew what Sasuke had planned. But it had to be done, and Naruto's not here to stop him anyhow.

And the first step would be to stop the Uchiha Massacre from happening.

Which means – visit to Danzou.

Sasuke clenches his teeth. The mere mention of the man still angered him, brought to mind the sharingan implanted into his arm. Danzou always had a strange, revolting obsession with the Uchiha. He should have killed him at the Five Kage Conference and got it over and done with.

Sasuke tightens his fist, his fingernails digging into the palm of his hands. _Yes. _Danzou would be crushed. _Konoha _would be crushed.

_All in due time, _he thinks to himself, _all in due time. I've waited thirty years for this. I can wait three more. _

But first he needs to locate Root's base. Sakura would be useful now – after all that time she spent in Root she'd know the headquarters like the back of her hand-

But Sakura's not here. She's dead. Like Naruto. A strange pang tugs at his heart but Sasuke brushes it away quickly. His plan would do them justice anyway. While they may not have seen it that way, in the end, they would understand. Like the Uchiha, like what even _Kakashi _used to say – _always look underneath the underneath. _

His parents are waiting for him at home – except waiting might not be the best word for it. After all, Itachi's ten which means that he's taking his jounin exams soon. And if his chuunin exams were anything to go by, the clan's in full swing now with preparations. So they probably won't notice if he's gone a few hours.

Mind made up, Sasuke sets off away from the Academy building and towards ANBU Headquarters – he knows where that is, at least. It should be a good starting point, considering Root is a 'branch' of ANBU. Maybe he'll even bump into Danzou, or someone from Root at least.

Sasuke pauses, right outside Konoha Markets. It wouldn't do to attract undue attention to himself, especially considering his lofty position in the clan. ARe were shaky now and tensions are high – there might be some people who would be willing to risk imprisonment to harm Fugaku's child. Especially considering that with the way Itachi was progressing, Sasuke was the only viable target.

He quickly performs a henge, covering his main features. Uchiha Sasuke has now changed into Ukiko Ketomi, the alias he has carried for fifteen years.

Uchiha Sasuke smiles, the same fake, plastic smile he's practiced for the past five years - Ukiko Ketomi is jolly, not unlike Naruto in some aspects. Ironic, as Naruto's alias Makito Torumi was silent, biting and sarcastic.

A lot more nondescript in his appearance now, he weaves in easily through the crowds, his eyes scanning the rooftops for any movement. Konoha Markets is situated right in the middle of Konoha for convenience's sake, which also makes it the most commonly travelled roof-top road.

He himself has used it many times – to get to the Hokage tower, to report to the administration building, to enter ANBU HQ and to visit Sakura in the hospital.

All things he'll doubtfully do ever again, if his plan comes to fruition.

Finally Sasuke spots someone of interest – a flash of black signifying an ANBU cloak. Except the figure's gone too fast to follow and Sasuke's left scrambling confused in the Market.

_Shit, _he realises.

He looks up at the rooftops again, but all he can make out are blurs. Ninja are scuttering this way and that, and he can't even pinpoint exact faces.

_Shit._

He had thought he was strong and all that but really - he's _pathetic. _His speed is pathetic. His senses are pathetic. His _whole skill set _is pathetic. He may be insanely good for an Academy kid, but that isn't _enough_. Not if he is to make a difference _now, _when it counts. Kakashi was genin at five. Itachi was ANBU Captain at thirteen. And what is he doing, wasting away here?

"_Fucking hell," _he mutters, and a villager looks down at him in shock. Sasuke grimaces and darts away, as quickly as his young body can manage.

His current state is pathetic. But who could possibly train him-

The answer hits him like a ton of bricks.

_Itachi. _

Sasuke turns on his heel and sprints, all the way back to the compound.

He only just remembers to drop his henge a corner outside the compound before he speeds in as fast as his legs will take him. The guards stare at him in confusion and bewilderment, but then again they're already used to strange behaviour from the elder Uchiha son – who's to say the little one will be any different?

Sasuke remembers euphorically to suppress his chakra, trying to test if he can get to the training dojo without being detected, and his chest is nearly bursting from excitement.

For the first time, Sasuke feels _young – _power is at his fingertips, and he's going to find it with his brother!

Sasuke skids to a halt outside the doors of the family dojo. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he raises a hand to open the door.

But it swerves open before he can. Fugaku stares down at his younger son, face expressionless.

"Sasuke," he says measuredly. "What are you doing here?"

"I want to train," Sasuke breathes, his heart hammering in his chest. He feels very much like a young child again, asking for permission from his father. And goodness – it's been so _long._

"Train?" Fugaku repeats, raising an eyebrow. "You can do that outside, can't you?"

Mikoto steps in in front of him, crouching down so that she's face-level with him. "Sasuke," she says gently. "This is a very important time for your brother, and he can't afford to have any distractions."

The old, petulant Sasuke would have complained, whined about how he wasn't a _distraction – _but this time Sasuke's _different. _He has _years _of knowledge and experience behind him.

So he declares – "Test me. Teach me and nii-san something. If I can do it just as well as he can, you have to let me train with Itachi."

If possible, Fugaku's eyebrow shoots even higher. Behind his parents, Itachi pokes his head around, peering down at his little brother.

"Ok," he says quietly.

Sasuke grins.

Fugaku sighs before opening the door further and stepping back. "Very well then, come in."

Mikoto stares at his father. "Fugaku," she whispers, "You're just going to destroy his self-confidence."

"It's on him if he fails," his father shrugs.

Sasuke smiles. He won't fail. Not if this is the test he thinks it is.

"Now," Uchiha Fugaku says, "You make six seals in this order - tiger, ram, monkey, boar, horse, tiger."

Itachi's eyes widen. Sasuke grins.

"Fire release: Giant Fireball Technique," both brothers say in sync.

"Correct," Fugaku nods. "Itachi, I've seen yours already. Sasuke, you have yet to complete this. Do you know what that means?"

"It means," Sasuke says quietly, "That you haven't been kept updated with my training."

Itachi raises an eyebrow. Fugaku smiles.

"So you still wish to proceed?"

"Very much."

"Well then," Uchiha Fugaku says, for the first time a hint of pride entering his eyes, "Let's move this outside."

* * *

><p><strong>Naruto<strong>

_Calmness._

_Emptiness._

_Feel nature._

_Feel the world around-_

"Shit," Naruto mutters, his eyes snapping open. His toad cheek bulges before disappearing.

"Dammit," he sighs, standing up in frustration. "This isn't going to work if it keeps on stuffing up."

Naruto pouts and peers at his reflection in the pond. The faint orange of sage mode is already flittering away, leaving him worse for wear and feeling more amphibian by the minute. Except this has to be done – he's finally got a second chance, and he's tired of working for everyone's recognition.

All he wants this time around is Team 7, whole and united.

Which means that he has to accomplish two things.

First of all, he has to become strong. He's not going to just sit back anymore, and watch things like Wave, Orochimaru and Akatsuki happen again. This time he's going to be strong – strong enough that Sasuke and Sakura could be paralysed and they'd still win. His team's not going to break apart this time around, he'll make sure of that.

Secondly, he has to make sure Sasuke stays right where he is. Which means making sure he's strong enough to ensure that Orochimaru never gets his snares onto the younger Uchiha boy.

Both of which include learning sage mode.

Of course, if Jiraiya saw him now, he'd scold him harshly – after all, it's dangerous to reconnect with nature chakra alone, especially since he's not at Mount Myouboku. But he's done it before, he _knows _how to do it, so it should be a lot safer.

But seriously though, it'd be so stupid if he got turned into a toad statue of all things on his second chance at life.

Naruto takes another deep breath, inhales, and-

"What is that kyuubi brat doing here?"

Naruto groans. Of course.

His favourite training ground is incidentally the old Team 7 training ground, which is incidentally Kakashi's favourite training ground. And it was Kakashi's favourite training ground because it used to be the Uchiha training ground, and he enjoyed parading his sharingan in front of the Uchiha.

Naruto breaks his meditation pose and stares in annoyance at the intruders. It's another pair of Uchiha teenagers again this time – the gate guards? – but behind them follow the main family.

Naruto groans. Really? They're usually never here because they have their own dojo. Which means that the only reason they're here is to practice big and dangerous jutsu. Kami Itachi's only ten. Can't they give him a break?

Then another figure emerges, and it's Sasuke.

Naruto freezes.

_Okay, _he thinks, _time to get the hell out of dodge._

The teenage Uchiha is still waving his fist at him, so Naruto quickly turns tail and runs away into the foliage surrounding Training Ground 7.

But he pauses. Itachi and Sasuke, congregated in one place? This will be something interesting.

He hops up into the trees, seamlessly masking his chakra – an extremely high rank technique that Sakura created, one almost infallible, and one perfectly suited to him. It simply required massive amounts of chakra and not a lot of control. Sakura could only maintain it a few minutes top, but he could last an hour even, with his supplies.

Beneath him, Fugaku and Mikoto stand to the side. Itachi steps forward first and his hand whirls through seals, almost too fast for his eyes to pick up on.

"Fire release: Giant Fireball Technique."

And then the whole forest illuminates, the flames so large that Naruto can practically feel the heat against his skin. It's apparent now the Uchiha's true genius.

Sasuke steps up next, and his hands whirl through the same seals – except he's slower, his movements accented by the fumbling of a child. Naruto winces – Sasuke's in for a humiliation.

And he doesn't want to see this. There's something strange, something heartbreaking about seeing a boy so innocent corrupted by clan politics. So Naruto jumps off the trees and hurries away, feet flying through the forest back towards Konoha.

And then suddenly, there's a loud _boom. _It ricochets through his ears, and he feels something scorching his back. He breathes in, feels ash and smoke clog his lungs, and turns back.

The forest in burnt black with fire. In the middle of it stands the Uchiha main family. Sasuke's chest is heaving.

Naruto pauses. Did _Sasuke _produce that fireball? Impossible. No one that age could do it, except for maybe Itachi-

Of course. Itachi must have performed it again.

Anyway, he has bigger things to worry about than the Uchiha coming-of-age passage. He needs to become strong again, so that Team 7 can stand good and strong and he will never be alone again.

Naruto shoots off through the forest again, using chakra to enhance his speed. It's a useful technique he's been employing – it allows him to make his way through the village at a speed too fast to be recognised by civilians, meaning that he escapes the usual taunting, while also allowing him to practice his chakra control. He's always only been able to employ big, powerful techniques. This was actually a training exercise Sakura had suggested to him before-

He swallowed harshly, his step faltering for a second before he regains his balance.

-before she died.

She had told him that it was a technique usually used in emergencies, for it required quite both a substantial chakra reserve as well as control. However this technique was unique because it could be adapted to be performed with a massive chakra reserve and less control. So it allowed him to gradually reduce the amount of chakra he used until he could stabilise his control. After all – the rasengan, one of his biggest weapons, needs a certain amount of control – control he doesn't have right now.

He slows down his speed as he enters Konoha Markets, making sure not to attract too much extra attention from the ninja – everyone knows the Markets are hotspots for ninja. But the walk to the Hokage tower is only five minutes from there anyway.

He had spent the first few years of his life rummaging around Konoha library for anything that would be of use – but there was nothing. Konoha library was communal, and that meant that there was no way anything worthy training-related would be hidden there. But he had looked anyway, just in case. After all, he had nowhere else really to look, did he?

Well, that was back then. He hadn't been strong enough yet and he hadn't been officially instilled in as an active member of the Konoha forces. Now that he'd begun his first day at the Academy he had a small level of clearance – enough to get him inside the Hokage Tower without a special invite from the Hokage himself. After all, when he was younger, the only way he could get into the Tower was through a special invitation from the Hokage himself. It was the same with all civilians – it ensured that they wouldn't be poking their heads into ninja business. If they had complaints or requests, they could submit a request to the Hokage or go to the administrations building. But the Hokage's Tower was strictly off limits.

But now that he can get in, he'll be able to explore the area to his liking. His first obstacle had been overcome and even though he doesn't have the clearance to really look at any of the records or books in the Tower, he has the skills to do it secretly.

It is a little known fact – one, in fact, that _he _didn't even know until his Hokage training – but since the Hokage practically spent their lives in the tower, they had their own, private library to dig into for their leisure. It was also a secret evacuation room, hidden in a chamber underneath the tower. In case of enemy attack, visiting foreign dignitaries would be kept there, led to the room blindfolded so that they wouldn't know the location. The path to the library was also ambiguous and full of long winding staircases to trick the dignitaries into thinking they'd left the tower when really they were simply underneath it.

Except that often meant that getting to the library was a lot more trouble than it was worth – it was much easier for the Hokage to simply summon a chuunin to grab him the book he wanted. That meant that while most of the stuff down there would be outdated, Naruto was quite certain that no one would find anything missing.

Unfortunately there is nothing too drastic in the library – nothing like the Scroll of Seals – but it'll be enough to get him some basic techniques – techniques which will help him in stealing the Scroll of Seals.

Naruto halts at the entrance of the Hokage tower. A few ninja standing in the reception turn at his presence – some grimace, but most just ignore him.

Nevertheless, he proudly walks through the door. And this time, he _knows _he's cleared their security system because no chuunin comes to escort him out.

Naruto casually strolls past the reception and towards the general staircase. Except this time, rather than taking the stairs up, he climbs over the railing onto the other side and leans down, feeling for the cracked panel which signifies the entrance.

He contemplates setting up a sound jutsu – after all, the opening of the panel made the same noise as the front door, another trick for the blindfolded dignitaries, but his control isn't that good yet – he could barely do it at full strength so it'd be better not to risk it. Sakura usually took care of stuff like this, and if he stuffs it up his burst of chakra will only bring some ninja over which will lead to questions he doesn't want to answer.

Old school it is then.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu," he whispers. A second Naruto appears who jumps back over the railing, walking back into the reception.

He counts to ten in his head and clicks open the panel, just as his clone dramatically trips and smashes a potted plant.

There's groaning and shouting on the other side and his clone quickly makes a dash for it – chased by ninja, of course. Naruto takes the opportunity to slide down into the crevice and closes the panel up behind him, sealing himself in. His clone will disappear once it's far away enough from the ninja, so not to cause suspicion.

In the meantime, Naruto whispers a fire jutsu and blows. It's weak – his chakra control is rubbish and he's no fire elemental either – but it's bright enough just to show him where the torch is stashed.

He quickly makes his way over and grabs the torch, whispering another fire jutsu to light it. Naruto grins – who ever would have thought he'd be using Sasuke's favourite jutsu, this many years in the future – or the past?

Shaking his head, Naruto continues his way through the dugout cavern.

It's a long path, making its way all the way to Konoha markets before spiralling back. It's a long walk but Naruto doesn't want to risk running. His torch might disappear and he can't read without light – it's only equipped with enough fuel for one journey. In fact, he'd need to go and buy more to replace this trip.

Finally he reaches the stone door which guards the library/evacuation room. It's protected by a seal - which is new - but Naruto's seen enough seals to last him a lifetime – two, in fact.

This one's a simple one anyway – but he supposes the only person in this lifetime who really knows seals is Jiraiya and the toad-nin would never need to break into a library such as this. So it's useful in its own way against intruders. Just not him, unfortunately.

A few jolts of chakra to the pressure points of the seal cracks it open, and the doors swing wide.

His torch begins to flicker and Naruto frowns - the fuel won't last much longer so he'll need to pick his books quick.

A quick scan of the library confirms that the layout is pretty much the same as it was before. He heads straight to the ninja textbooks. He grabs as many as he thinks he can fit under his jumper without looking inconspicuous – _The Sealing Theory. Minato Namikaze. The Seven Fundamental Rules a Ninja should Know and Perfect. Ebisu. Taijutsu at its finest. Maito Juno. _

_How to stop a war. Unknown._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>So, like I said, it was a filler chapter. BUT - next chapter will get the story moving, so that's good. Can anyone guess what the next event's going to be? It's not the Uchiha massacre, but here's a clue:

It's got something to do with Cloud.

But anyway, review and let me know what you think!

Shout out to** bashfulglowfly, akuma-chan25300, alldaylong, nadeshiko-yuna, Broken Reveries, MaleficentRace, Guest, Sincerely Athena, **and** Poppy Grave Dreams **for your lovely reviews :)


	3. The Hyuuga Kidnapping

**AN: **So... it's the Hyuuga Kidnapping! Congrats to those of you who guessed right :) Also, PaperGod pointed out that this was supposed to happen when they were all four, but I had thought it was five so... in this version, it will happen when they're all five! For no real reason, except I wanted this to happen when all four of them knew each other.

But anyway, hope you all enjoy!

* * *

><p><em><span><strong>The Hyuuga Kidnapping<strong>_

* * *

><p><strong>Sasuke<strong>

"Who have you been training with?" Itachi asks casually.

Sasuke grimaces, freezing half way down the stairs. He had thought no one was home but Itachi sits on the couch, at home for once, reading another one of Konoha's historical encyclopaedias. He'll definitely need to improve his sensory skills.

"Training with?" Sasuke repeats cautiously, slowly recommencing his walk down the stairs.

"Yes," Itachi replies calmly. "Your skills are much better than the Uchiha elders had predicted. Evidently you've had help. Who?"

Sakura pauses. He _hadn't _been training with anyone. The reason his progress is so drastic this time around is because there's no more hit-and-miss with his training – this time Sasuke knows what to do, and how do it. But Itachi can't know that. He's smart – smart enough to know truthfully that the old Sasuke would have never achieved this level of progress without outside help.

"…Hyuuga Hinata," he finally says. It's the most plausible option he can think of on the spot – they're both in the same Academy class, and she is, at least in the Uchiha's eyes, strong enough to help him improve. She's also a Hyuuga – an added bonus – as it means that hopefully the Uchiha will be less than willing to chase her down to verify his story.

"The Hyuuga heiress…" Itachi muses, placing the encyclopaedia on his lap. "Interesting. Have you seen her recently?"

Was that a trick? Sasuke frowns - he had always gotten the feeling that Itachi was playing him, manipulating him in some way or another - even in his past life.

"No," he decides to say, staying on the safe side.

Itachi continues to eye him steadily, as if waiting for him to say something else.

"Why?" Sasuke grits out.

Itachi smiles sadly. "Why don't you go and see father now Sasuke? I hear he promised you a master instructor in a field you see fit to help with your training."

Sasuke nods briskly before closing his eyes, trying to reach out with his chakra to pinpoint his father's location.

"Is he in the dining room?" he tries.

Itachi smiles. "Close. He's in the meeting room."

Sasuke sighs – it _was _close. The two rooms are next to each other but his sensory skills are still a bit muffled. But then again, all this chakra perception and control had never been his forte – that had always been Karin's, or Sakura's.

"Go on now," Itachi prods.

"Yeah yeah," Sasuke mutters, rolling his eyes. He makes his way through the house, noticing that it's strangely empty for this time of the day. It's five o'clock – usually prime time for ninja to be returning from missions, reporting to his father. Or at least the cooks would have started preparing for dinner. But his otou-san is in the meeting room. What was going on?

Sasuke smiles. A little eavesdropping seems to be in order. After all, how is he going to begin the intricate task of stopping the massacre without knowing all the details?

He suppresses his chakra a few hallways away from the meeting room – the only skill he's managed to somewhat master. He should be safe from detection, especially if they aren't looking for him.

Sasuke quickly slips into the dining room and presses himself against the wall. He sends chakra to his ears – Sakura's signature technique, actually, but she doesn't know he's copied it – and amplifies his hearing.

"-kidnapped."

"The heiress?" A gravelled voice grounds out. It has that familiar croaking sound of the balding Elder Mako.

"Yes." – His father. "The Hyuuga have retrieved her though. She's quite shaken and seems to have withdrawn in on herself. Hyuuga Hinata is much weaker now and will be no competition for Sasuke. He will be the strongest of his class."

Sasuke tenses. Hinata had been kidnapped? Had this happened the last time around? But then again, when he talked to her before she _had_ seemed a lot more outgoing than she was previously. So this was supposed to happen?

Unsure, Sasuke presses his ears closer to the wall.

"What's going to happen?"

"They want Hiashi's body."

"All the better for us!"

"No. They're sending his twin."

"Aa. He's the one with the son – the boy genius, they're calling him?"

"Yes. Hyuuga Neji. Maybe with his father gone we can make a move. The byakugan is strong in that boy."

Sasuke reels back. Had the Uchiha always coveted the byakugan? He'd never known. Were there plans for the extraction of the byakugan? Was this part of their rebellion against the city? Would these plans have gone through without the massacre?

"We shall have to see. Are the informants in the Hyuuga still loyal?"

"Yes Elder Mako."

"Good. I've also been thinking… Fugaku, how's the sharingan in that boy of yours?"

"Itachi is becoming quite adept. On his last mission he managed to genjutsu a whole squad of jounin."

"Wonderful. Maybe we'll get him to do the same to the Hyuuga informants. Speaking of informants though, we must look through the clan again. The Hyuuga have people within, I'm sure of it, and the Hokage does too. We need all the help we can get. Maybe it's time bringing that boy of yours to these meetings."

"I'm sure Itachi will be honoured to," Fugaku says graciously.

"Wonderful," Elder Mako says quietly. "Now. I believe I sensed your second child nearby Fugaku. Perhaps he is looking for you. After all, I heard about that impressive display of the Giant Fireball Technique. As good as Itachi's was, his was maybe even better. How is Sasuke's progress? What instructor do you have in mind for him?"

"As you said," a female voice cuts in sharply. Sasuke starts – Mikoto – his mother is at this meeting too. Whatever they were discussing must've been important. He frowns – he'll have to be more vigilant. He can't miss important meetings like these.

"As you said," his mother repeats, softer, "You sensed Sasuke nearby. Let's not keep him waiting, or have him eavesdrop on something not meant for young ears, eh?"

There's a beat of silence in the room.

"Of course," Elder Mako says graciously. "This meeting is adjourned. Fugaku, feel free to find your second son."

Sasuke clenches his teeth and darts out the dining room, shooting through the hallways before he can be spotted by anyone coming out of the meeting room. All he had gotten from that conversation was a kidnapping of Hyuuga Hinata and the gradual induction of Itachi into the Uchiha higher circles.

Wait.

Itachi had sent him here after their conversation about Hyuuga Hinata. And, coincidentally, allowed him to eavesdrop on the-

_Of course._

If Hyuuga Hinata had been kidnapped, he couldn't have been training with her. Which meant that when his father asked him-

"Sasuke."

Sasuke whirls around.

"O-otou-san," he stutters. He _really _needs to work on his sensory skills. Except he's never really had to before, not with Karin and Sakura around, and he's not quite sure how to go about doing it.

"Now, we agreed that it would be impossible for you to keep up with Itachi's training regime, so an instructor is in order."

"Yes," Sasuke nods, feeling as though he should add 'sir' considering to the menacing stare of his father's.

"Is there a field you would prefer? Or would you like a general instructor?"

Sasuke pauses. His father is being unusually generous. He must have something planned – but what?

"Kenjutsu," Sasuke says, but it comes out more as a question than an answer.

"Nonsense," his father says immediately. "Physically you are not yet capable of doing well in kenjutsu. Pick something else."

Sasuke opens his mouth.

"Actually," his father cuts in, "You shall have a general instructor. The Elders and I believe that your skill set is most partial to speed and ninjutsu. I know of someone who may help."

"Not Ebisu," Sasuke blurts out.

His father raises an eyebrow. "You know of him?"

Unfortunately. "Yes," Sasuke grits out.

"…it is not him. Your instructor will be an _Uchiha."_

"Of course," Sasuke says quickly.

"I believe," Fugaku says, something faintly reminiscent of a smile on his face, "that you have heard of Uchiha Shisui?"

Sasuke's head shoots up. Yes – but only as the cousin whom Itachi killed.

"He is known as Shisui of the Body Flicker," his father says. The name rings a bell in Sasuke and he recalls the famed technique – it's the closest he can get to _fast_, not counting the Fourth Hokage.

"Thank you," Sasuke says quietly.

"It was your brother's idea," Fugaku says gruffly, turning away. "He convinced Shisui to go along with it."

Sasuke nods, his throat bobbing.

"Oh," Fugaku says, turning back. "And before I go, who have you been training with Sasuke? Your progress has been quite impressive. Even Elder Mako has noticed and he is not easy to please."

"Yamanaka Ino," he says quickly. "I've been training with Yamanaka Ino." She's similar enough to Hinata – his father's sense of strength comes from the last name and Yamanaka is respectable. Plus, she likes him enough to back him up, should the need arise.

"Interesting," his father muses. "Well, I hear Shisui has just gotten back from his mission. He's probably at Training Ground 7 training. Why don't you go and see him?"

* * *

><p><strong>Sakura<strong>

Sakura glances up at the sun again – it's 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and Hinata is _a whole hour _late. Which is monumental, considering it's _Hinata. _

Which is… strange, to say the least.

Granted, Hinata hadn't been at school for the last week or two, but Sakura had thought that'd just been because of some clan business or something. Or maybe she'd been sick.

But whatever it is, she knows that Hinata would've sent her a message to let her know she couldn't make their training session, especially since this one had been in planning for a month – it'd been quite hard for two five year olds to book Training Ground 8 and Hinata had had to pull heiress status. So she would've definitely let her know if she couldn't make it - Hinata was always polite like that anyway.

It doesn't help that next to her on Training Ground 7, Uchiha Shisui is training like there's no tomorrow.

Or maybe he's just training.

Whatever he's doing though, it still highlights to Sakura the tremendous power gap she has to overcome.

Uchiha Shisui jumps up into the sky and flings ten kunai down onto the ground. Then, a millisecond later, he flickers to the ground and tries to catch the kunai. He manages eight – the rings land perfectly onto his fingers – but the other two he misses.

One kunai slices open his left hand, the other lands harmlessly on the ground. He sighs and pockets his kunai again, reaching for his bag.

He pulls out a strip of medical gauze and Sakura resists the urge to call out – _I can heal that for you!_

She does need practice – she hasn't healed a single person since coming back in fear of blowing her cover. Maybe once she trains a bit more she'll be able to hold a genjutsu long enough for her to intern at the hospital or something like that.

She flexes her muscles and closes her eyes, concentrating on her chakra. She's trying to rebuild her Strength of One Hundred Seal on her forehead but it's pathetic at the moment. Granted, she's still five, but the Seal is so weak that not even a hint of green is showing. A good thing, she supposes, considering that she doesn't need to cover up her forehead with a ribbon or anything to hide it.

Funny, she thinks, considering that the bullying will give her the perfect excuse to hide her forehead.

But there's no improvement without actual work so Sakura tries to concentrate on her chakra again, measuring her reserves. They're small, probably half the size of Sasuke's, but they _have_ grown considerably since she's started training with Hinata. Her control also mitigates her pathetic size a bit – in a fight, stamina wise, she should hopefully last just as long as Sasuke.

Luckily, there has been one aspect she's managed to build up to her previous level – her sensory skills. That, along with a few other chakra-suppressing techniques are ones which only require a small chakra reserve and a near perfect control.

And- _woah._

_Sasuke alert._

Sakura sighs.

_Not. Cool._

She is way too tired for his shit. She should go visit Hinata, see what's holding her up. Maybe there's trouble brewing there? Who knew with the Hyuuga. Granted, they had stabilised a lot after the massacre of the Uchiha but the Hyuuga were always just as messed up – they were just better at hiding it.

Sasuke is still rapidly approaching and Sakura takes that as her signal to get the hell out of dodge. She tears out of the compound and into the nearby foliage, cleanly escaping the training grounds.

_And… there he is._

"Sasuke!" she hears Uchiha Shisui exclaim. "Fugaku told me you'd be coming here."

_Oh really?_

Sakura pauses before silently jumping into the treetops. Sakura's speciality has always been medical ninjutsu, Sasuke's his sharingan/chidori, and Naruto his kage bunshin/rasengan. But on the larger scale, something Sakura can say she is _soundly _better than the boys is this – staying hidden. If she doesn't want to be seen, Sakura is as hell not going to be seen.

She spikes chakra to her ears and listens. While Shisui seems boisterous enough for an Uchiha, they're still silent compared to the rest of the world.

"Itachi says you're a great kid-" Sakura resists the urge to scoff "-and he said that you'd be interested in making yourself a bit faster, eh?"

Sakura peers through the trees.

"Yeah," Sasuke nods. "I do. It's my strength."

"Oh," Shisui says, stroking his chin absentmindedly. He's a lot more expressive than most Uchihas Sakura notes, but that makes him all the more dangerous too.

"Well then, today we are definitely _not _working on your speed."

Sasuke's head shoots up in surprise.

"What?" he says unintelligibly.

"There's no point in working on what you're good at until you've become unbad enough to make it effective."

"Unbad," Sasuke repeats.

"Yep," Shisui grins. "Now fight me."

Then before Sasuke can respond he lunges forward.

_Sasuke's going to get smashed, _Sakura thinks vindictively.

But Sasuke dodges – faster than she had ever expected five-year-old Sasuke to react. _She _probably wouldn't have been able to do that at _chuunin – _that was a reaction time achieved through pure grit and _experience _alone.

But the fight continues on before she can ponder any more on his dodge. Shisui seems to be going easy, refraining from using ninjutsu, but Sasuke obviously doesn't have the same qualms.

His hands constantly form seals and he shoots jutsu after jutsu towards Shisui – jutsu she's _sure _a five-year-old should _not _know.

Shisui still has the upper hand but that's to be expected from one of the clan's most powerful members.

But Sasuke is _good. _

His speed is fast, his ninjutsu pretty spot on too, and though he hasn't tried genjutsu Sakura knows that with a brother like Itachi he can't be too shabby at it either. His taijutsu is slightly lacking, but that's a problem future Sasuke certainly doesn't have.

The fight ends quickly and Shisui begins giving pointers to Sasuke, but Sakura is still stuck frozen in the tree.

She feels weak.

For the first time since she was a genin, Sakura feels honestly, genuinely _weak. _

The fight had exemplified that.

While she was simply going along with her life, Sasuke had somehow gotten strong.

Or maybe he hadn't changed. Maybe she just isn't as strong as she thinks. Maybe her training sessions with Hinata aren't enough. She can't keep up with someone like Sasuke, someone with clan training, simply through association.

Yes, she has to keep the past predictable. But then again, she ca make a _few _changes. Only really big, important things would need to happen. Like the Uchiha massacre. _Definitely _the Uchiha massacre. And not just to keep the past predictable.

The massacre will prevent a _civil war. _She doesn't even think future Naruto understood the many intricacies of the topic, and he was the _Hokage_, let alone Sasuke. The two would have grandiose ideas of stopping the massacre, but Sakura _knows_ that it needs to happen. Naruto would understand her. Sasuke wouldn't, but Naruto would. She'd have to explain it to him though – but that's why she's his Root Commander. She understands these things.

Goodness, she needs to stop thinking as if the two of her teammates are still here. It's only her, and she's _weak. _

She's _weak, _and she needs to _change that._

Sakura swivels round determinedly and shunshins to the Hyuuga compound – not walk, like she usually does – she needs to practice her skills. She needs to get better, _stronger-_

Sakura takes a deep breath and walks towards the gate.

"Hello," she says quietly. "I'm here to see Hyuuga Hinata."

The chuunin guard looks down quizzically at the five year old girl. Where had she come from anyway? But she seems the heiress' age. Must be a friend. Who knew the heiress had those?

"Hinata-sama is indisposed," he says quietly before pausing. "I mean Hinata-sama is-"

"-unable to see me I know what indisposed means I'm not an idiot," the five year old grumbles. "And _obviously _I know she's indisposed otherwise I wouldn't have come here, now would I? Now is she sick or something?"

"…or something," the other chuunin guard cuts in ambiguously.

"Cut the crap," Sakura says, rolling her eyes. "Tell me what happened."

The chuunin guard frowns. "Now look here you-"

Sakura rolls her eyes and shoots forward. Time to _really _test her skills. She has no senbon on her – she needs to buy some, now that she thinks of it – so she has to rely on her fingernails. Evidently not expecting an attack the first guard is caught unawares and she digs her fingers into his neck, sending a jolt of chakra into his pressure point.

He collapses down unconscious before a hand grabs her shirt and yanks her back.

That's right. The other chuunin guard.

"What the _hell _do you think you're-"

But he doesn't get to finish his sentence because she kicks back, right underneath the knee. If Sakura's ever been anything, it's accurate. He buckles but he regains his balance quickly. Except his momentary pain had caused him to loosen his grip on her shirt just slightly.

Sakura pulls back her fist and punches.

The guard raises an arm, hand reaching out to block her hit but he's not expecting this – _no one _is expecting the chakra laden behind her punch.

Even though she's five, Sakura shatters his bones. Chakra is _power _bitch.

He hisses and snarls, his eyes whirling into byakugan-

But it's too late. Sakura pounces on his again and jabs his pressure point too. His eyes widen and he collapses, neatly falling on top of the other chuunin guard.

Sakura smirks. So she's still got it. Bet Sasuke couldn't do _that._

But she'll need to genjutsu them, make them forget what happened-

_Oh crap._

Sakura hears the footsteps coming leisurely towards her. She had forgotten this was the _Hyuuga _compound – everyone inside had probably seen the entire battle.

"Now," a stern voice says from behind her, "You just injured two of my most dedicated gate guards."

Sakura swirls around. An old man stands in front of her – wearing the traditional Hyuuga kimono. That means only one thing – he's an elder and if the gold embroidered around his clothes are any indication, a powerful one too.

Swallowing harshly, Sakura bows her head politely. "My apologies. I just wanted to speak to Hinata-chan."

The old man surveys her quietly. "Hinata-chan?"

"Yes," Sakura replies respectfully. "She's my friend."

"Is she?" the elder says quietly, "Come with me."

Sakura nods obediently and trails after him, not daring to question his motives. He leads her inside the main house and through a myriad of hallways, starkly silent the whole time. The Hyuuga scattered around don't seem too interested in her, but then again for all she knows they could be watching her from the back of their heads.

Finally, they reach a large ornamental door.

"This is Hinata-sama's room," the elder says quietly. "You may speak to her."

Sakura looks up in surprise – is he really trusting someone who just knocked out two of their guards to be alone and unsupervised with the heiress?

But then again she isn't really alone and unsupervised, considering the Hyuuga's uncanny abilities.

"Thanks," she says quickly. The elder nods and ambles away, no doubt to converse with the other elders about the strange pink-haired little girl.

_Great, _Sakura thinks. Her little moment of passion had brought her into the limelight.

But it can't be helped. She knocks twice on the large wooden door.

There's no response.

Sakura knocks again.

"Hinata?" she calls quietly, "It's me. Sakura."

No response. Sakura bites her lip.

"Hinata?" she tries again, "Are you okay?"

Finally the door creaks open a small crack.

Hinata peers out, curled in on herself, normally pale eyes ringed with red.

"Sa-Saku-chan?" she whispers quietly.

"Oh Hinata," Sakura breathes. "What happened?"

The door opens wider and Sakura slides in. The room itself is surprisingly simple for the luxurious Hyuuga compound. There's a small bed pushed against the wall, a small square window, and a bookshelf. It looks extremely…unheiress like.

But she doesn't have too long to ponder on the state of Hinata's affairs. The heiress shrinks back to her bed and bundles up against her covers again.

"Hinata," Sakura says gently, "What happened?"

Hinata's fingers curl around the edge of her duvet.

"I- _C-cloud…"_

Hinata begins sobbing and Sakura locks up. She feels as if she's back at the hospital again, with Hinata and Naruto, telling Hinata the bad news – that Pein's attack had caused her infertility.

Sakura shakes her head quickly, ridding herself of her thoughts. She's in the present now, and she must stick to it.

"It's going to be okay," she murmurs softly, placing an arm around the heiress and rubbing gentle circles against her arm with her thumb. She contemplates sending massaging jolts of chakra across her back – it's an effective method – tried and tested with hundreds of war veterans who'd gone to the hospital after the Fourth Ninja War, suffering from PTSD. But that would probably send alarm signals to all the Hyuuga no doubt looking into Hinata's room right now.

"I'm here for when you're ready to talk," Sakura opts to say instead, continuing to pat her gently.

Hinata hiccups and reaches a hand out across Sakura to grab a tissue.

"C-cloud," Hinata manages to repeat between hiccups. "They took- they- they-"

But then the heiress's words become too gargled to understand. Sakura continues to rub comforting circles on her back, silently trying to piece together what'd happened.

She thinks back to her past life, and all the events she had studied. The only thing that had stood out to her immensely that had happened during her childhood was the Uchiha massacre, but there _must _have been something before that…

_Come on, _she thinks to herself, _you've organised Tsunade's files enough times you should _know-

"That's right," Sakura breathes.

There was a Hyuuga kidnapping. Tsunade had once made her read over it so that she could complete a diplomatic mission to Cloud. Hyuuga Hinata had been kidnapped by cloud ninja and Neji's father had to be killed-

But she can prevent that! Can't she?

Sakura swallows harshly. _No. _She can't. Not really. She's not strong enough. Not at this age. She can't deal with clan politics now. Neji she can't help, but she _can _help Hinata.

Sakura shoots up, nearly giving herself whiplash. In fact, that would be a win-win situation.

"Sakura?" Hinata sniffles, looking up at her determined friend with wide eyes.

"I'll be right back," Sakura whispers.

And then she runs out, ignoring Hinata's confused squeak. She needs to find the elders and she contemplates using shunshin, but she doesn't know the compound well enough. As it is now, she has to find the elders through her senses alone. And Hyuuga are notoriously hard to find.

Well, as it is, if she does find them it'll only strengthen her argument.

Sakura takes a deep breath and reaches out with her chakra, trying to remember the old man's chakra signature.

"_Yes_," Sakura grins as she locks onto the elder's chakra signature. She halts in her path and immediately segways towards him, passing many stunned Hyuuga.

"Hi," she finally says when she reaches him, scattering to a halt.

The elder looks down at her. "Hello."

"I need to speak to you," Sakura huffs. Then she frowns – if that much work had gotten her tired she needs to work on her physical health.

The elder looks down at her speculatively.

"Alright then," he says finally says, "Go on."

"Not here," Sakura says determinedly. "And you might want to call in the other elders."

He eyes her carefully. "You know I'm an elder?"

"Yes," Sakura nods. "You have on the traditional Hyuuga garb."

"Impressive knowledge for a civilian child."

Sakura's not surprised he knows who she is. Most clans, especially ones as shrewd as the Hyuuga, keep tabs on their children and their associates.

"Very well," he says. "Luka, call Arumi and Juu."

Sakura can't see anyone near them, but she supposes the Hyuuga have their own strange way of communicating.

Seemingly satisfied that his order has been heard, the elder waves a hand. "Follow me," he says, and this time Sakura pays careful attention to their path. After all, she's sure he's taking her to the Hyuuga meeting room.

When they arrive, Sakura notices that their meeting room is the luxury that she had expected of Hinata's bedroom – a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, plush seats and a polished mahogany table.

"Take a seat," the elder gestures. A branch member rushes forward and places a pile of cushions onto a chair.

Eloquently, using all the poise she'd learnt as a dignitary for Tsunade, Sakura jumps onto the chair. With all the cushions under her, she is somewhat eyelevel with the rest of the chairs.

The elder takes a seat opposite her and eyes her. He's trying to intimidate her but Sakura's had the _Raikage _try and fail. A Hyuuga elder is nothing.

His gaze finally relents when the other two elders join him.

"What's happening Hoshiko? This better be important." The woman – Arumi? – turns her annoyed stare to Sakura.

"You, child. What do you want."

Sakura can't let her attitude bother her. If there's anything she's learnt from her countless diplomatic missions as Tsunade's right hand, it's that you must maintain your cool, no matter what the opposition does.

"It has come to my attention," Sakura says measuredly, "That Hinata-sama's life was placed in jeopardy recently."

Juu leans back. "Impressive vocabulary for a kid." Arumi continues to eye her hardly while Hoshiko watches the whole proceeding with a level stare.

"I propose, in the interest of Hinata's safety, I be trained as her bodyguard."

"Unnecessary," Arumi snaps. "She has one."

"Hyuuga Neji?" Sakura raises an eyebrow.

All three elders snap to her.

"How do you know?" Juu asks quietly. "You. A civilian girl."

"Hinata-sama told me," Sakura fibs, her façade twice as confident as she is within. "And do you think he can effectively carry on with his duty when his father dies in front of her? Do you think he will be free of resentment?"

Hoshiko's eyes narrow. Sakura notices shadows begin to congregate outside the door. Hyuuga ninja are ready for the order to incapacitate her if she proves to be a threat.

"You know too much girl. How?"

"It was the logical, obvious answer," Sakura says slowly. She doesn't want to get Hinata in trouble so she can't keep saying that Hinata's supplied her with information. Plus, Hinata probably doesn't even know about the plan. So that means she has to use her twenty-five year old brain backed with experience and insider knowledge to answer a question a five year old would definitely _not _be able to.

"Cloud operates under the motto _'a head for a head'. _It has a history of settling disputes over an exchange of dead bodies. For example, twenty years ago, a Suna ninja caused the death of a Kumo ninja as a by-product of his mission. In return, the Raikage asked for the head of a Suna ninja of the same rank. That same year, such a Suna ninja was sent on a diplomatic mission to Kumo, from which he never returned."

Juu leans back slowly. "You are well read too."

Sakura nods sharply. "In regards to your situation, it seems logical that they would ask for the head of the head of the clan in exchange for the many deaths. And to prevent outright war from occurring, the Hokage will agree. So the Hyuuga are in a predicament. However there is a solution – the clan head has a twin. Father of Neji Hyuuga, bodyguard of Hinata. Now how effective do you think this bodyguard will be, knowing that his father is dead as a direct result of his 'protectee'."

There is silence as the elders watch her with guarded eyes. Only Juu has a small smile on his face.

"Plus," Sakura adds quickly, "They're not in the same year. Me and Hina-chan, we are. And she told me about Neji, so you know she trusts me."

Hoshiko purses his lips. Arumi leans over and whispers something in his ear. Sakura resists the urge to eavesdrop – the Hyuuga elders are strung tight right now and any fluctuation in her chakra will label her an immediate threat, especially with all the information she has just divulged. And she doesn't want the shadows behind her to pounce.

Juu eyes Hoshiko too, and an unspoken agreement seems to pass between them. Finally Hoshiko turns back to her.

"Haruno Sakura," he says carefully, "Daughter of Haruno Tsubasa and Teru Nanami. Civilian. Uncle Haruno Toketsu – chuunin."

Sakura stares back at him, chin up.

"And…that's it," Hoshiko says, leaning back. "No more ninja in your family. The Haruno were never really prominent in the line of things. But you…you show… potential."

_Potential_, Sakura thinks. That's good enough for her.

"Potential can be explored," Sakura says cautiously.

"Yes," Hoshiko nods. "And it shall be. Let us talk training."

Suddenly, his eyes flicker to the door. A few moments later it opens. A Hyuuga jounin stands at the door, teeth tightly clenched.

"Intruder alert," he grits out.

Arumi stands up immediately.

"You!" she says, whirling around and pointing at Sakura as if the debacle is her fault. "Stay here. Do not move. We will talk later."

Hoshiko and Juu stand up after her and the three waltz out. The Hyuuga jounin eyes Sakura carefully before closing the door behind him.

Sakura hears the distinct click of a lock.

She sighs.

_Well this is just great._

* * *

><p><strong>Naruto<strong>

He had taken a risk. A big risk. And…

It had backfired.

_Major._

_Breathe deep, _Naruto tells himself.

Then he hears the footsteps.

_Breathe quietly, _he amends.

One of the books he had taken from the library had pointed towards a certain Hyuuga text on chakra direction – a technique which would somehow reverse the flow of chakra to help with the unblocking of tenkutsu points after the Gentle Fist. It worked because it went against the natural flow of chakra, which made it incredibly destructive, allowing the blocked points to effectively 'explode', thus opening them again.

And he wanted to do that – except with the rasengan. It was powerful enough, sure, but if he reversed the flow of his chakra the whole things would become much more deadly, and could be the fraction of difference needed to beat an opponent like Orochimaru.

_Or Sasuke's chidori._

Naruto shakes his head quickly, ridding his thoughts. It's been five years. And this time around Sasuke and him will be _friends. _

Plus, he needs to get out of the Hyuuga compound first.

A certain attempt at stealing the scroll had… failed. Spectacularly. He had severely overestimated his own abilities. Sure, his future self would have been able to do it, not that he would've needed to as he was the Hokage and could do whatever the hell he wanted, but he had thought his carried over experience and knowledge would somehow turn him Uchiha Itachi level overnight.

Evidently, it didn't.

On the bright side, he _did _manage to steal the scroll. On the other hand, he had tripped multiple alarms while doing so.

Which means that his first and well, only priority, is to get the hell out of the Hyuuga Compound.

Not that it was going to be easy, considering the bunch of them practically had eyes on the back of their heads.

So all he can say is really _thank kami for kage bunshin. _

That's probably got the Hyuuga all confused.

The footsteps are getting closer.

_Well this is great, _Naruto thinks as he lay crouched behind the stairs. They're pretty much guaranteed to find him now, unless he can somehow take them down and make a run for it? Unlikely. They'd probably have him flat out on his back in a second.

Except the footsteps are unusually loud. The Hyuuga are usually silent, vigilant, and none of them would be careless enough to announce their presence so obviously in front of an intruder.

So… a trap?

No time to think on it now though – the intruder has arrived.

Naruto springs out from behind the stairs, holding the scroll up in the air as a weapon-

"_Hinata_?"

Hinata squeaks, stumbling back.

"N-N-Naruto-kun!"

The two children stare at each other until Naruto suddenly remembers his situation.

His eyes widen and he reaches out and grabs the heiress, pulling her under the staircase with him.

"Wha-" she squeaks again, but Naruto fumbles over and claps a hand over her mouth.

"Shh," he whispers, "They're chasing me."

Hinata's eyes widen and she begins to struggle against his arms.

"Shh!" Naruto repeats desperately. "Please. Just trust me."

Hinata's begins to hyperventilate but she stops struggling. Naruto holds her helplessly, half of him on the alert for other Hyuuga presence, the other one trying to figure out how to get her to calm down. Eventually she manages to quieten and stop moving.

Cautiously, he removes his hand.

Hinata shoots up immediately. "Naruto-kun?" she whispers harshly. "What are you doing?"

Naruto smiles sheepishly and holds up the scroll. "Wanted this."

Hinata looks at the scroll, then at him, and seemingly shrugs.

Naruto clears his throat uncomfortably in the ensuing silence.

"So…" he says awkwardly, "What were you doing?"

"Getting some food," Hinata replies quietly. "I've been in my room for a whole day now. Haven't eaten at all."

"Wow," Naruto breathes. "That _sucks. _How come?"

Hinata shrugs and looks away.

Naruto frowns – this isn't the Hinata he knows. She isn't dismissive, she isn't an ignorer, she isn't a- a _giver-upper._

"Hinata?" he prods gently, "What happened?"

Hinata's lip begins to tremble, and Naruto thinks _holy shit I've made her cry._

_It's been _years _since he's made a girl cry. _

"Oh Hinata," he says desperately. He reaches forward and pats her on the head, but she latches onto his arm and sobs onto his sleeve. Naruto tenses up, unsure of how to respond.

_Sakura would've known what to do._

Awkwardly, he pats her on the head and smooths out her hair.

"Hinata?" he asks gently.

What had happened? It must've been something important to have shaken her up so much. Had this happened last time? It must've, considering he didn't do much to change the way things were. But what-

Naruto hisses. The Hyuuga Kidnapping.

Except it hadn't really seemed real to him back them. He had never really pondered it much. It had been something long gone, a thing of the past that had no real meaning in the real world anymore.

Except, Naruto realises with frightening clarity, _this _is the real world.

This Hinata, the one crying in front of him, this is the _real _Hinata.

Not the Hinata he left behind years ago.

That world – it isn't the real one anymore. This one_ – this world is real!_

Naruto stumbles back. Hinata looks up at him through tear ridden eyes.

This whole time, he hadn't really been thinking, had he? He had been _selfish, _only wanting to be happy himself. But in front of him – the whole world was crumbling in front of him and he was going to let it happen!

He had lost sight of his ninja way.

Suddenly the scroll in his hand seems heavier, much, _much _more important than it was a few moments ago.

He can't let the world disintegrate before his eyes. No. He's going to _save _it, this time around. And it's going to be even better than it was before. He needs to be powerful to do that though, and this scroll – this scroll in his hand will help him do it.

"Hinata," he says solemnly, grasping her by the shoulders. "I need to escape. This is very important. Can you help?"

Hinata looks up at him and nods.

"Good," Naruto says quietly. "Now I'm going to go now. Your clansmen are after me. Where's the nearest window?"

"Down the hall and turn right," Hinata says, determinedly wiping away her tears.

"Thanks," Naruto smiles, "You're a trooper. Can you help me check if anyone's around?"

Hinata nods again and shuts her eyes. She clenches her fists and her body shakes before she opens her eyes.

"Byakugan," she whispers.

Naruto grins. She had activated her byakugan a lot faster than those her age normally do. She really is an impressive heiress. It's a pity her clan can't - could never - see past the strength of her little sister and cousin. On fact, had her little sister been born yet? No. Hanabi would come later this year.

"There are a few Hyuuga along the corridor to your left, but most are on the other side of compound. They're chasing…you? Five yous?"

Naruto chuckles, rubbing the back of his hair with his hand. "Yeah… it's a clone jutsu." He pauses. "Only five? They work fast. I started off with twenty."

He turns back to Hinata and gives her a bright smile.

"Thanks Hinata," he says genuinely, clasping her hand in his. "You were a really big help today. In more ways than you can imagine."

Hinata blushes. "Y-you're welcome?"

"Anyway," Naruto says, "Gotta go now. Stay strong. I believe in you Hinata-chan!"

She lifts an arm up in a wave but Naruto is already gone, taking with him one of her clan's prized scrolls.

Naruto manages to make it to the window without detection and the rest of the trip is an easy out. Or maybe that's just because he's on a high, riding on the newfound determination to get stronger – not for himself, but for _Konoha. _

Naruto is no longer just Naruto.

Naruto is the _Hokage._

And he's going to fix things.

But of course, he can't do that with his current skill set. Which means training – which means, unfortunately, the only instructor he can probably get his hands on as the 'kyuubi brat'. It means going through the Hokage, his only supporter, which means getting the only 'ninja' that won't be of better use anywhere else.

It means getting the only instructor whom isn't currently occupied.

Konohamaru is only one.

Which means… Ebisu.

But he needs this. He needs to prevent one of the most destructive events of all time. He needs to stop the Uchiha massacre.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>Two against one! Naruto and Sasuke are determined on stopping the massacre, while Sakura is hell-bent on it _happening. _

Leave me a review and tell me which side you want to win!

Next up... time skip three years so I think you all know what's coming up! As you may imagine, it's a BIG event so it won't be able to fit in one chapter, especially considering all of their plans. So yeah, I'm thinking 2 or 3? We'll see.

Thanks to **Guest, Broken Reveries, Itachidisciple123, rawr, PaperGod, guest, Animelover3232 **and **bloodied pack alpha **for your lovely reviews!


	4. The Uchiha Massacre - I

**AN: **So... the uchiha massacre is happening. It's been a time skip of three years, and I'm sorry about that but it's necessary. I want to get the story moving so that we actually get to _Team Seven, _the whole premise of this story. But I'm trying not to rush the massacre because I think it's a _really important _part.

Which is why... this is part 1. More parts coming soon, I'm guessing probably 3 at this point, but everything is tentative.

Also, turns out my info on the Hyuuga kidnapping is really out of whack. Thanks to the Dragonbard who pointed out that it actually happened when she was three. Sorry for the confusion guys! But yeah. In this story it happens when she's five because I've already written this much and it was really important for that to happen so... yeah.

Hope you enjoy this chapter guys x

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>The Uchiha Massacre - I<strong>_

* * *

><p><strong>Naruto<strong>

Naruto's knowledge of time travel has always been limited.

It was never talked about much in his past life – it had always been accepted as impossible and thus never pondered on much. His only exposure of it had been when Sakura had had a brief obsession with some guy researching it.

He failed, she got over it, and it was never spoken of again.

But when she did speak about it, he remembered one thing she emphasised clearly – it was _keep the past as it is. _

She must have said it so many times that even _Sasuke _remembered it.

Except… he's not here for things to end the way they did. He's here to change things. And if he's to change things, he needs a voice. A voice that will at least be _considered _in a serious manner.

And he's got plans. Plans which involve the Hokage trusting his rational judgement without question. And the first step to that is actually doing well in school – well enough that the Hokage will see beyond prankster and to future Hokage.

Future Sakura would definitely scold him for doing this but it's only temporary. After all, he's got three years to get back to dead last so that he can get into Team 7. And that is of _utmost _importance.

Iruka clears his throat.

The class continues to mumble.

Pointedly, Iruka pulls out a set of certificates and waves them. Immediately the class silences and Iruka grins. Naruto notices with approval that he's a lot more comfortable teaching now. He seems to have found his niche – Azumi-sensei had retired last year, leaving all the teaching to Iruka. Without the pressure of the authority figure judging him, Iruka is fast becoming the teacher Naruto knew and loved.

The only damper on that thought is that, if he remembers correctly, next year will be the year Mizuki started teaching – the chuunin who was supposed to take Azumi's position was an Uchiha and he had been killed in the massacre.

But that won't happen this time around, not if he can help it.

"Alright then guys," Iruka says, a small smile on his face. Even Kiba is sitting in rapt attention, eyeing the certificates in his hands, even if he looks like he's going to burst from the tension. "Are you ready for the end of term prizes?"

Naruto grins just as Kiba finally bursts, whooping up in his seat. "You bet!"

Iruka smiles fondly before clearing his thought. Kiba immediately sits to attention.

"Now," Iruka says dramatically, eyes glinting. "Please keep your applause to the end. I know it's the last day of school but we've still got ten minutes left of class. And none of you are leaving until all the certificates have been handed out, so please remain silent until the end."

He picks up the first certificate. The whole class leans forward in anticipation. "Most enthusiastic goes to… Inuzuka Kiba."

Kiba cheers, jumping out of his seat. Akamaru crawls out of his hoodie and bounds forwards, licking Iruka on the leg. Iruka hands him his certificate and Kiba proudly takes his position in front of the class.

Iruka picks up the next certificate.

"Biggest brain goes to… Haruno Sakura."

Sakura blushes and goes up quickly to accept the award. Behind her, Ami and a few other civilian girls snicker.

"Big forehead," they giggle.

Naruto rolls his eyes. Really? They have no idea how insignificant their comments are. Sakura has moved mountains – literally and figuratively. She saved the life of the Kazekage's brother at fifteen, replenish the chakra supplies of armies at seventeen. She was part of the legendary _Team Seven _dattebayo!

But this Sakura looks down and immediately Naruto is brought down from his high. No. This Sakura is a vulnerable one. This Sakura is the old one, one not yet scarred by Orochimaru and Sasuke-

Naruto freezes.

If he changes things – if he makes them for _Sasuke, _is he destroying _Sakura _in the process? The Sakura he knows?

"_I can't think like that," _he hisses quietly. In the front row, Uchiha Sasuke tenses minutely. Sakura's smile becomes strained.

Naruto shakes his head, ridding himself of his thoughts. He must think of the better goal for the future – for the _future-_

"Most improved goes to…" Iruka announces loudly, "Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto snaps up to attention and pushes his thoughts of Sakura and Sasuke away from his mind. He was never good at thinking of those sort of things anyway – that had always been Sakura's thing. She'd probably know what to do in his situation.

But Iruka is still waiting for his flamboyant reaction so Naruto grins and cheers, ambling up proudly to accept his award.

The other children in his class look surprised at his achievement but Sasuke is staring at him calculatingly. Next to him, Sakura shuffles away to keep her distance from him.

Naruto fights the hurt which suddenly stabs his heart. She can't help it at this age, he tells himself, her parents have been feeding her lies.

Iruka pulls out the last certificate and Naruto snaps his attention away from Sakura, grateful for the distraction.

"Best achiever goes to…"

Naruto leans forward expectantly – he might even have a chance at this. He's been training immensely, readying himself to stop the massacre. Hell, even _Ebisu _is impressed. This award would definitely raise his credibility, help him to show that his ideas are worth considering. Then hopefully he can influence the Hokage – just only if he can beat the Uchiha second son-

"-Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto deflates. Sasuke eyes him, smirks, and goes up to accept his award in thundering applause.

Kami. Even as a kid he still manages to be annoying in that _Sasuke _way of his.

The class continues to cheer and Iruka eyes the clock, painstakingly waiting out the last few seconds before the hand ticks to 2:30 – officially signifying the end of class.

Next to him, Sasuke shifts uncomfortably.

But Naruto can't help but smile. Sakura's on his left. Sasuke's on his right.

This is the beginning of _Team Seven. _

"Class dismissed," Iruka calls up through the ruckus.

Naruto's smile curves up into a rambunctious grin.

"Yes!" he calls, pumping his fist into the air. Next to him, Sasuke rolls his eyes and turns to meet his Uchiha cousin. Sakura quickly scampers back down to Hinata and the two girl huddle together, away from the other girls of the class.

Naruto smiles softly. Sakura's got Hinata this time around which is different, but perhaps his encounter with Hinata had had more drastic effects than he'd imagined. Who knew? After all, Sakura had always mentioned the intricacies of time travel and the ripple effect and other stuff like that he didn't remember. Sakura is doing fine which means it's time to focus on Sasuke.

Naruto breaks away from the throng of Academy students eager for the holidays and out into the courtyard.

The massacre is to occur in around three months but to his knowledge the orders were not officially given until the week before. Had Danzou already come up with the idea?

Naruto bites his lip. He can't quite remember but it doesn't matter. He's implementing counter measures either way.

His control has gotten a lot better – not enough, definitely, for the leaf twirling exercise, but it's more than he could've hoped for last time around.

_Constant training _is his goal this time around, a leaf he's taken from Lee and Gai, actually. But he's refrained from anything too drastic – weights, he's heard, hinder your development at such a young age so he's stuck to the simply stretching his limits chakra wise.

He uses Sakura's technique to quickly break away from the courtyard and to the Hokage's tower. Nobody bats an eyelid – they're too used to ninja shunshin'ing everywhere that an extra blur raises no eyes.

Just to be careful though, he stops in the middle of Konoha Markets like always, camouflaging himself between the legs of the bustle of people.

Reorientating himself, he walks leisurely to the Hokage tower. This time the receptionist doesn't even bat an eyelid as he enters – he's been coming and going from the tower numerous of times this year.

Except this is the day his grand plan is going to be put into action.

First off, he makes his way down to the library under the stairs. He'd saved enough money by the time he was six to by a muffler for the entrance. This way, he wouldn't have to keep on breaking and replacing the potted plants in the reception.

In fact, that also might be why the receptionist is friendlier to him now, Naruto thinks absent-mindedly.

The books from the library had proved to be good help, but nothing had come up which he didn't already know. It _had _provided good insights however into child-training – that was where he had gotten the information of the weights. Without them, he could have seriously injured himself.

He has the last of his books with him today, slung in his backpack.

Naruto quickly opens the hidden hatch and jumps down into the hallways, picking up the torch. This should be his last journey down here – he's already pretty much exhumed all of the resources already.

Three years had really exhausted this library – he hasn't been down here in a while too. The last time he'd come down was to pick up scrolls on laws governing Konoha to see if he could find any loopholes in regards to sending people on missions – one of his ideas had been to send Itachi off on an impromptu mission during the time the massacre was to occur. Hopefully that would stuff up the plans a bit, enough for the Hokage to figure out a way to stop it. But that ended up turning into a dead end. He wouldn't be able to go unless the Hokage passed his mission and the chances of that happening were least to none.

But it _is _a loose end he needs to tie up – Ebisu had gotten suspicious from all the political and administrative questions he had been asking him. All he needs to do now is put those scrolls back and then he'd need to move onto bigger things.

Namely, stopping the massacre from happening. Once that is done and dusted, he'll go back to being dead last – and Team 7 would rise again.

Naruto quickly sets the books back into the library and pulls out some ink from his bag. Then, he goes to the door and draws the old seal, destroying any signs of his presence. He won't need this library again, although it is a sadness to see it go. It's been almost his second home with all the time he's spent in it. But it _has _served him well – he's probably a solid fifteen-year-old Naruto power level now, in some aspects.

Naruto sighs, running back to the entrance. He's been slacking off in his training lately – after his research into the massacre, he'd found out that stopping it occurring had been a lot less heroic ninja-power-_wham! _And a lot more… politics.

He skids to a halt in front of the entrance and places the torch back in its position, refuelling it quickly. Sakura would have been better at this, he thinks with a sigh. If she'd come back she'd know how to stop the massacre, how to sweet talk the elders or somewhat. That was why she was the best at her job.

Naruto pauses just before the entrance, thinking back solemnly to Team 7. While he and Sasuke had always been seen as the front men of Team 7, Sakura had always been powerful in a subtle way. And without her, they would've been nothing. And Sasuke-

Well. Sasuke is a _whole _other story.

Naruto shakes his head, clearing his thoughts. He jumps up and takes the muffler from the entrance, erasing the last sign of his presence. He'd considered wiping fingerprints and the like, but the chances of someone snooping here were as low as Kakashi revealing his face.

Naruto dusts himself off and casually walks back into the reception. Now that that's done, he has to begin the delicate political mission.

Making his steps quiet – but not too quiet for an eight year old – Naruto walks up the stairs to the Hokage's office.

He's been talking to the old-man a lot lately – some have been intelligent, philosophical discussions, others small hints into the Uchiha's doings. But this will be the most important meeting – the suggestion of an idea which will hopefully set the course of the future onto a different path.

Naruto pauses suspiciously outside the office. It's starkly silent which means that either Sarutobi is away, or he is discussing matters delicate enough to warrant sound-proofing jutsu. Both which spell trouble.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto raises a fist and knocks.

There's continued silence on the other side and Naruto thinks – maybe old man really _is _away – but then the door swings open.

Danzou looks across before his eyes slowly travel downwards. Finally, they meet eight-year-old Naruto's.

Inwardly, Naruto curses.

"Naruto?" Sarutobi calls from inside.

"Yes," Naruto says softly, heart hammering in his chest. His hands are clamming up and his mind is whirling at a thousand miles an hour. Does Danzou know about his meetings with the Hokage? Does he know what they've been talking about? He'd tried to weave in the details through casual conversation, as to appear inconspicuous, but what if Sarutobi had taken that to mean that the things he said weren't classified?

In the end, it all came down to _does Danzou know?_

"Naruto?" Sarutobi calls again, "Come in."

"Yes sir," Naruto says meekly. Danzou steps back from the door and Naruto scuttles in quickly, head bowed.

Sarutobi smiles at him as he enters.

"Hello Naruto," he says kindly, "I hear this is your last day at school. How have things been in the Academy?"

Naruto shoots a nervous glance at Danzou. The elder has shut the door and is currently rifling through some of the Hokage's files, looking casual.

Naruto shivers. _What is he still doing here? _

He turns back to the Hokage, quickly plastering on a smile. "Good," he says quickly, throat bobbing. "I got the most improved award."

Sarutobi smiles widely. "That's wonderful Naruto."

"Mhm," Naruto nods, continuing to bob his head as he licks his lips nervously. Then, his eyes quickly dart to Danzou.

"Don't worry about me," Danzou suddenly says, snapping a file shut. It echoes through the room with a load bang and Naruto would've jumped if not for the numerous wars under his belt. "I'm just doing some file work. The paper ninja are quite behind lately."

His tone is way too friendly. Naruto is immediately on guard but Sarutobi is still smiling at him expectantly.

"Yeah. I'm… I'm good. Except I… I'm finding some of the new work hard," Naruto says slowly. He has to proceed with his plan but kami help him he's going to drag it out. Tensions are too delicate to mess up the planning, especially since his previous meetings have been building up to this meeting. He just needs to drag it out long enough that Danzou _leaves. _"I… think my class rank will drop soon."

"To dead last again?" Sarutobi jokes.

Naruto smiles wanly. That is the plan, yes. He's just setting it up early. Once the massacre is over he doesn't need to keep in anyone's good graces.

"How's Sasuke by the way?" Sarutobi asks, his tone perfectly casual. "You always talk about him."

_Well yes, _Naruto thinks, _that's cause I'm trying to feed you updates on how the Uchiha clan is going, as well as surreptitiously suggesting other courses of action. But I can't do that_ _when _he's _here._

Naruto begins to cough awkwardly, trying to avoid answering. The room sits in stifling tension before Danzou stands up and turns to the door.

"I'll be going now," he says quietly. "Goodbye Hokage-sama."

"Good-bye," Sarutobi answers cordially.

Danzou walks out of the room, silently shutting the door behind him. Naruto lets out a small breath of relief.

"So?" Sarutobi prompts.

"He's restless – well, I mean, he always is. His cousin is too. I reckon there's something going on in the Uchiha," Naruto says casually. His voice is loud again, as in persona, recovered now that Danzou's gone.

"I see," Sarutobi nods slowly.

"But I mean, I can see why they feel that way," Naruto says, pushing himself up to sit on the Hokage's desk. That had been one of Ebisu's lessons actually – when negotiating, a false sense of intimacy helps to loosen the other party.

"You know, Iruka-sensei mentioned the other day-" he did nothing of the sort, but Sarutobi didn't know that "-that there weren't a lot of Uchiha in ANBU corps. They're all in the Military Police Brigade or something like that."

"Military Police Force," Sarutobi corrects quietly.

"Yeah. That. And I thought it must _suck _to be so disconnected from your fellow ninja. I mean, it doesn't really foster good friendships right?"

"Mm," Sarutobi hums non-committedly.

"_I _think it would just make things a lot better if the Uchiha got to connect more with the rest of us eh? Like maybe something like a swap over of commanders or somethin' like that! Ooh wait! Or maybe you could get them to supervise the Konoha Spring Festival this time instead of the ANBU – that way they could connect more with the civilians!"

Sarutobi smiles softly. "That's quite a good idea Naruto but I'm afraid logistically, the Uchiha aren't equipped enough to deal with such a responsibility."

"But you haven't given them a _chance!" _Naruto points out. "This shows them that you trust them with a piece of national security, you trust that they are skilled enough to handle _responsibility. _It shows that you see them as part of Konoha's defence force!"

Sarutobi leans back speculatively.

"Think about it," Naruto says evenly, trying to make sure his tone is perfect. The Hokage may be relaxed around him, but he's still the _Hokage ._If he senses he's being manipulated…

Naruto shakes his head and continues. "Even though the Festival will be full of civilians, it will also be full of ninja. And no one in their right mind would attack a space so filled with Konoha's trained operatives. The risk is minimal."

Sarutobi leans back in his seat. "This is… an interesting idea, Naruto. It has potential."

Naruto nods fervently.

"Go now. I will think on it." Sarutobi eyes Naruto carefully. "Do me a favour will you, and keep an eye on Sasuke for me?"

Naruto smiles, his heart rate finally slowing. It is completed. "I will."

Sarutobi raises a hand and dismisses him. Suppressing a grin, Naruto jumps off the desk.

He's done it. He's proposed the idea and hopefully that, along with the other ideas he's been surreptitiously putting forward every meeting, will let tensions between the Uchiha and Konoha simmer down so that a massacre isn't necessary.

But now that he's addressed things from the official side, he has to address things from the Uchiha side. Which means he should try to find Itachi.

Except the Uchiha heir is known to be notoriously hard to find, either on ANBU missions or doing dastardly Uchiha business. He would have to be vigilant, and look carefully.

No. First, he should find _Ebisu_. His meeting with the Hokage has run late and no doubt his instructor is _mad._

Ebisu gets mad quite easily, Naruto thinks.

He swings open the door – and _Danzou _stands right outside.

Naruto freezes.

Had he been listening in? Had he heard his suggestions? Had he just drawn attention to himself from the commander of ANBU Root? And knowing Sakura, that was a position _not _to be trifled with.

"If you'll excuse me Naruto," Danzou says carefully, "I need to talk to the Hokage. I forgot to discuss something with him."

Naruto nods robotically, not trusting himself to say anything. He steps to the side and Danzou walks calmly into the office.

Mechanically, he closes the door behind him.

"Danzou!" he hears Sarutobi exclaim in surprise. "You're back."

"Yes Hokage-sama," Danzou says measuredly.

"That boy…" Naruto's eyes widen but then a sound barrier jutsu hits the wall and nothing else can be heard.

Slowly, Naruto lets go of the doorknob. Did Danzou see him as a possible threat now?

It'd be best to steer clear of the office whenever he's around. Naruto shakes his head, clearing his thoughts. He's done all he can for today, and he still needs to see Ebisu.

* * *

><p><strong>Sasuke<strong>

Is that a… rock? With holes? For _eyes? _Where had he seen that before?

Sasuke pauses, adjusting the strap of his bag as he eyes the strange phenomenon in front of him. These children are infringing on his path home and usually he'd just pull clan crap and get them to scram but it all looks so f_amiliar…_

That's right. Konohamaru and his friends – Naruto's little army of followers.

Which means...

Sasuke looks up.

Yep. That's Naruto, with some tall guy in glasses. And they're heading this way.

So… time to get out of here.

Sasuke turns back around, side-stepping the cardboard rock. His parents are expecting him home anyway. Naruto can go do his training with glasses guy.

Except… Naruto had gotten the award for most improved. Sasuke frowns. Had he gotten that last time around? He can't actually remember. His whole childhood had been so tinted with the massacre and Itachi that he can't actually remember any of the mundane things which happened.

But there would be no point spying on the blonde anyway. He should just get out of here.

Steeling himself, Sasuke continues his walk back to the compound, shoulders squared. He _won't _look back.

Today had been his last day at the Academy before the three week break, which also means it's also his last opportunity to inconspicuously carry out his plan.

He had been extra conversationalist lately and his chosen topics had been so revealing that Elder Mako had taken to eating with the main family just so he could listen to Sasuke's 'stories'.

Itachi however, always seemed suspicious of his actions. But lately his older brother hadn't been paying too much attention, luckily, so Sasuke's subtle manipulations continued to go on unnoticed.

Sasuke sighs. Admittedly though, his plan _does_ go against Itachi's values, but his older brother is too self-sacrificial for his own good. What Sasuke is planning to do – that will benefit them _all _in the long run. Sure, the Uchiha were at fault in their own way, however nothing they did justified the drastic actions Danzou – that bloody _bastard – _took to neutralise the 'threat'.

Speaking of which, he _still needs to find _the bloody headquarters of Root. And he's been looking for _three bloody years. _This place is the epitome of well-protected. Times like this he could _really _use Sakura. Except she'd never agree to do it anyway.

Sasuke sighs again and shakes his head, ridding his thoughts of his other team mates. He reaches the compound and the gate guards let him in wordlessly.

His father is probably anticipating his return in the dining room. His mother is probably waiting there too, but for different reasons. She just wants to keep herself informed though he knows she disapproves of the information he is 'unknowingly' feeding his clan. And Itachi? He's probably off doing something for the Hokage.

Pity, Sasuke thinks humourlessly, because the Hokage was so invested in his one informant within the Uchiha that he failed to see the other happenings. They thought that just because Itachi was clan heir he knew everything. But he didn't.

No.

_Sasuke _knew everything.

Sasuke pauses outside the entrance to the dining room and tests his senses. There seems to be… three people inside? Maybe four?

No. Three.

Sasuke opens the door to the dining room.

"I'm home," he says.

His father looks up from the newspaper. His mother is baking something – biscuits? Elder Mako is huddled in the corner reading one of the Uchiha clan scrolls. This time Shisui is here too, twirling a kunai around his finger as he watches Mikoto prepare the biscuits.

_Damn. There _was_ four people._

"Hey Sasuke," Shisui greets. In a flash, he tosses the kunai. Sasuke narrows his eyes and raises a hand, snatching the kunai mid-air.

"Shisui," he greets.

"How was the Academy Sasuke?" his father asks.

"It was alright," he says levelly. "But I overheard the teachers talking in the staffroom about us."

"Oh?" Elder Mako says, not looking up from his scroll. The whole family continues their charade of casualness. "What did they say?"

"They said that the Uchiha were good-for-nothing, and that someone… I forgot his name… Dan-something? I dunno. Something 'bout how we should be careful. Very careful."

Elder Mako's fingers curl tighter around the scroll. Mikoto hisses as she burns herself on the hot oven tray.

Shisui turns his eyes to Sasuke, watching him calculating.

"And you heard this… from _Academy _teachers?"

"Yep," Sasuke says innocently. Usually his family are too engrossed in the new information to pick out the flaws in his story but Shisui has always been too smart for his own good.

"Interesting," his cousin says, nodding slowly. Then he turns around sharply and leaves.

"Where are you going?" Elder Mako calls.

"I need to talk to Itachi," Shisui calls back before disappearing.

Sasuke eyes the door with narrowed eyes. Talk to Itachi? Is Shisui…

No. Itachi's the only Hokage informant in the clan. Except Shisui _does_ seem to be also exempt from the famed Curse of Hatred, like his brother. Perhaps he was just going to tell Itachi how his own brother perpetuated the curse of hatred. But he can't think too much on Shisui – he needs to concentrate on _stopping the massacre of his family._

"Anyway, I was training with Kiba too" -lie- "and I heard his parents talking 'bout how the Uchiha were getting more and more suspicious."

"Really?" Elder Mako says slowly, fingers tightening even further.

"Yep," Sasuke says. "Not that it's my business or anything, but could you guys act a bit less suspicious? It's bad for my popularity."

It says a lot for how immersed the others are in their own thoughts that they don't even acknowledge the absurdity of Sasuke's words. But as long as his warning has gotten through, his mission is complete.

The Uchiha have been getting more reckless, and if this keeps going on the massacre will have more and more grounds to proceed.

"I'll be going now," Sasuke announces to the silent room.

Receiving no response, he leaves. It's time to tackle things from the other side. Now that he's got the Uchiha more hateful but hopefully less bloody _obvious, _he needs to get to Danzou.

After all, at this stage the Hokage and his brother and all the 'good and righteous' people of the world have no idea that a massacre is even a possibility. Only Danzou in that sick little head of his could entertain such a thought. Kami Root was messed up. Funny how Sakura ended up there though, cleaning up the loose ends Danzou left in his wake, trying to rehabilitate all the Root ANBU. She, the most innocent of the team, ended up being corrupted by Root mentality.

Sasuke shakes his head, walking back out of the compound again. The two gate guards seem unfazed at his abrupt departure.

He needs to find Root but so far his methods had been completely ineffective.

He'd started off looking for a particular person – Kabuto to be exact, but he was as elusive as a snake. So he'd tried to settle for second best, with the one known as 'Sai' who replaced him in the team.

God he hated that kid.

But unfortunately Sai too, was nowhere to be found. Sai probably wasn't even his name.

Which meant that he'd now had to settle for third choice.

And third choice was… pretty _shit._

He knew _vaguely, _having heard _once or twice _from Naruto or Sakura about an epic battle which had occurred during the Fourth Shinobi World war. It was one between Shino and his relative, who was Root.

So he knows that in Root, there is an Aburame.

He also knows that Shino had found out during this battle that his cousin had known a Yamanaka.

So he knows that in Root, there's an Aburame and a Yamanaka.

And that is, in essence, all he has to go off on.

Unless he wants to reattempt following ninja. But he knows from last time's spectacular failure that that would never work. He isn't good enough at hiding his presence. He'd be detected in an instant, even if he's gotten his speed up to scratch.

He supposes he could pull the big guns and ask his parents but that would draw way too much attention to him. Perhaps it'd be better just tagging along to Itachi?

Surely his brother was a better option than finding an elusive Yamanaka/Aburame.

But then again, it's _his brother. _At his full power, would he have beaten Itachi? He's not sure about things like this anymore. Itachi's genius is obvious, and it's a genius unparalleled.

No. Tailing Itachi would be even worse.

But recently, the _Hokage_ has been much more accommodating to the Uchiha. According to the various reports he'd gone through after the massacre a lifetime ago, none of this had happened, but it's for the best, he supposes. After all, with Konoha reaching out a friendly hand the Uchiha are bound by social conforms to follow with one.

As to why these new changes were occurring, Sasuke had no idea. But then again, the ripple effect of his return must have somehow jolted things around. Hopefully though, with Konoha seeming a bit friendlier, issues can be... resolved would be impossible but… suppressed. Suppressed to a degree so that a massacre is unneeded.

Yes.

That would work.

But as it is… he should see Ino.

Unfortunately.

But surely, she'd be easier to wheedle information from than Shino. Even at eight years old that guy is _creepy._

* * *

><p><strong>Sakura<strong>

"Forehead-girl!" Ami calls.

Sakura sighs, adjusting the ribbon over her forehead. It feels constricting, tight and scratchy. She's looking forward to the day she'll finally get her hitai-ite – new and clean, blood-free.

That'll be the day.

"You can't hide your forehead with that ribbon, you know, no matter how hard you try!"

Sakura resists the urge to roll her eyes. Around them, adults jostle this way and that, looking at the produce displayed in Konoha Markets.

"It's so big I can see it anyway! Nothing can hide it!"

Wow. These girls really aren't that creative in their insults. Even Sasuke can do better and he has the emotional capacity of a rock.

Oh Sasuke.

Funnily enough, now when she thinks of him there's no bubble of hatred to go along. Her hate has subsided, mellowed, strangely. As much as his actions did change the world, she's had eight years to mull over it, and she doesn't think she hates him as much now. After all, the Sasuke now is a cute and innocent one.

And she's come back to change things. So Future Sasuke will never, ever happen.

"It's as big as an elephant!" Ami adds as an afterthought.

Sakura sighs, placing a hand on her forehead, feeling her chakra reserves. Her Strength of One Hundred Seal has been growing quite substantially which is good. Hopefully she'll be able to tap into some of it soon – but knowing what's to happen, she still has to save a large chunk for when Kabuto causes the armies to lose their chakra. But she's got years till that.

"Forehead-girl!" Ami calls again.

_Really? _Please. She's saved Ami's little hide more times than she can count. Indirectly of course, but Team 7 has saved Konoha many _many_ times.

But this girl is determined, Sakura'll give her that. After all, she's followed her into _Konoha Markets _to lecture her.

"Sasuke-kun!" she suddenly hears.

Sakura turns around. Ino – when did she get here? – pushes her way through the crowd and latches onto Sasuke's arm. The boy is surprisingly mellow. Then again, his family hasn't been killed yet.

"Sasuke!" Ami squeaks, abandoning her attack on Sakura to race to where Ino and Sasuke are. Sasuke glances in their direction, scowls, and quickly walks away. Ino scampers after him.

Sakura sighs, turning away from them. She has other things to worry about.

She looks down at her watch. Hinata's still not here yet – maybe she's with Naruto? She'd heard that the shy girl had made friends somewhat with him, which is strange as it didn't happen last time around. But she supposes her influence has somehow caused this. Not that it was catastrophic in any way – in fact, it might be for the better, now that Naruto has someone.

She's fine with it, as long as Hinata makes no effort to introduce her mutual friends. While she has made mental preparations in facing the younger versions of her two teammates, she's not sure if she's quite ready enough, especially in such unfamiliar territory. Sakura takes comfort in the _known, _and anything different from before in relation to the two most prominent people in her life is quite outside her comfort zone.

Sakura has been maintaining her comfortable spot as the middle-ranked kunoichi – both she and the Hyuuga elders thought it to be the best in remaining inconspicuous. They had decided she'd be best as a hidden bodyguard – one only they knew about. Of course she had also pushed for that too in an effort to keep the past as predictable as possible. In fact, even Hinata doesn't know of her designation as her 'bodyguard', but they've become firm friends anyway.

Except… something had been stirring up lately. The original contract she had with the elders detailed that her role would end after two years. Sakura had agreed – after all, two years training could make a world of difference – look at Naruto. But at the beginning of this year, the Hyuuga had suddenly renewed her contract for another two and there had been murmurings of some trouble.

Of course the Uchiha massacre is on its way. Three months to the day, if Sakura remembers correctly. Sasuke is beginning to act a bit strange, but she can't blame him as the tensions that are no doubt running through his clan at the moment. That doesn't stop him from being comfortably top of the class though.

She glances over at Sasuke. Him and Ino are talking, Ino much louder than he. They seem to have lost Ami in the crowd.

"…my cousin!" she hears Ino say. Sasuke smiles.

Sakura rolls her eyes and turns away, instead thinking to her other teammate. Strangely, Naruto has been shooting up the rankings. She doesn't quite remember if this happened last time – she'd never paid much attention to him as a kid – but recently he's begun to get worse and worse. It looks as if he's heading towards dead last again, so maybe it _had_ happened last time.

"Sakura-chan!"

Sakura swivels around. Hinata waves at her through the crowds, quickly zig-zagging between the civilians before halting to a stop in front of her, face a healthy red.

"Am I late?"

"No," Sakura fibs, "I was just early. You wanna head back now?"

"Sure," Hinata grins.

This is the holiday schedule they planned – now that school's over they'll both meet in the afternoons to head back to her compound. Hinata will complete a training session with her father and her sister while Sakura reports to the elders.

"So," Sakura asks, linking her arms with the heiress. "Who were you with just then? Naruto?"

Hinata blushes. "No, no. Of course not. I was just at the park, collecting some flowers."

Sakura's eyes flittered to her backpack. "That's right. You like to press flowers don't you?"

"Yeah," Hinata smiles softly, "They remind me of okaa-san."

Sakura nods sympathetically. She supposes she's always been extremely lucky considering that both of her parents are still alive – were, in fact, even in her old life. Even through the war, she had managed to keep them safe. It was a fact, she knew, which tormented her two teammates, but she cared too much for her parents to let it bother her.

"How's Hanabi?" Sakura asks, turning her mind away from her past life.

"She's very good," Hinata says happily. "Even though she's only two, father says she has great potential."

"That's nice," Sakura echoes.

The two arrive at the gates. The two gate-keepers shoot Sakura a stern glare before letting them in. She doesn't think they've ever forgiven her for besting them – it must've been a blow to their egos. But they can't do anything to her now. She's under Hyuuga elder protection.

Sakura walks Hinata over to the family dojo. Hiashi gives her a nod and Hanabi looks up at her with wide eyes.

"How long?" Sakura asks.

"An hour," Hiashi replies.

Sakura nods and slides the dojo door shut before making her familiar way down the halls to the meeting room. Hinata thinks she's just waiting in the reception but the meeting room is only a few turns away – close enough to rush back for pretences in case of an emergency.

She's just rounded the last corner when a figure steps forward – a Hyuuga jounin.

"Wait here," she says, holding a hand up. "The elders are busy."

Sakura scoots to a stop in front of her. Biting her lip, she rocks on her feet and peeks around the jounin's waist.

The meeting room door is closed – it's in use – and she can sense many people inside. There's no sound-proofing jutsu but she supposes that someone inside has their byakugan switched on, watching for any suspicious activity.

Curiouser and curiouser.

What could they be discussing? Did this have anything to do with why they renewed protection for Hinata for another two years?

Sakura bites her lip and ponders a risky move.

She's always been adept at chakra control jutsu which means that if she tried she might be able to listen to what they were saying. But she's in a compound full of byakugan users – she'd need a complex web of jutsu. Would it be worth it?

This close to the massacre? Yes.

Sakura takes a deep breath and begins the first layer. She keeps her breathing steady, trying to appear unfazed to the jounin in front of her. Luckily, she doesn't have her byakugan switched on. But Sakura has no doubt someone, maybe all, have it on in the meeting room.

She weaves a layer of chakra over herself, imitating her normal flow of chakra. It's a technique much more complicated than a normal chakra suppression and one which requires much more control – it simulated a normal person, rather than making one disappear.

Sakura lets out a shaky breath. Now that her cloak is established, she needs to keep her hold on it as she directs chakra to her ears. That's two missions she needs to concentrate on at once – this will be a true test of whether or not she's built her skills up to the level they once were.

Cautiously, Sakura sends chakra to her ears and listens.

"…this is serious news Arumi."

"I'm not saying it isn't. I'm just saying – _are we sure."_

"…yes. We are very sure. Our Uchiha informant is adamant. _This is happening."_

"But it's just absurd! I mean, everyone knows that the Uchiha are planning a rebellion. Everyone knows about the hate! But you're saying that not only has the hate gotten stronger, the Uchiha are now _pretending that nothing's wrong?_ I thought the whole premise of their rebellion was to _act rebellious _so that the Hokage knows they're unhappy with the way things are. Why are they suddenly hiding? Unless the Hokage has been threatening action."

"Even if the Hokage was threatening action the Uchiha wouldn't know about it. So _how do they know_?"

"But we're not even sure if the Hokage is still threatening action! Relationships are becoming much more amicable. On the surface, at least. The Hokage is getting soft. He's becoming careless, thinking that the Uchiha have no power, while the whole lot of them are growing more and more hateful and rebellious. They've just gotten better at hiding it! Like I've said _many times already._"

"So. What are we going to do about it?"

"Here are evacuation plans in case war does break out. Hinata-sama and Hanabi-sama are first priority. Branch will need to escort them, and Sakura will be there in case they act out. Good foresight there Juu. Her renewed contract did come in handy. Hiashi-"

The wave of shock fractures her jutsu and Sakura barely stops herself from stumbling back.

"This is absurd," she whispers frantically. The jounin shoots her a look. "My leg keeps on cramping," Sakura adds quickly, but her mind is whirling.

The Uchiha have somehow tricked the Hokage into thinking that nothing is wrong? They've become mellow, and quiet?

That must mean they're planning something. But the Hokage can't do nothing. Why are both sides this time around so different? Has her appearance changed that many things?

Then she has to fix it. The massacre must go ahead. It stops a _civil war _for bloody sake. The Uchiha are planning a rebellion, and the Hokage is getting tricked by their façade.

_No._

Maybe the Hyuuga have gotten things wrong. She'll have to investigate on her own. She can't act impulsively – look how far that ended up getting Sasuke. But they seem confident it's going to happen – they have bloody _evacuation plans _already. Sakura steadies herself, chewing her lip in thought. She has to be very careful, especially in times as tender as these.

Finally, the door to the meeting room opens. Nine other elders file out and the Hyuuga jounin leaves with them. Finally, Hoshiko pokes his head out.

"Sakura," he says quietly, "Come on in."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>Wow. So. Naruto's part was _huge. _It turned out to be half this whole chapter! Hope you guys don't mind. And as you may have noticed I messed up the orders for the characters, and this will probably continue to happen to work plot-wise. I want the right people to be in the right places at the right times. In terms of Team 7, I know the three seem really disconnected now, but things will start culminating once they get forced together.

Anyway, big kisses to all the reviewers: **AnimeLover3232, curious viewer, thestorymaker2, wingofpain, SugoiAuthorToBe, Insidious Person, Lonely Athena **and **the Dragonbard. **

Hope you enjoyed and please review xx


	5. The Uchiha Massacre - II

**AN: **Second part is up! So many climactic things were happen in this chapter but... I have many plans and I used to think we'd be able to wrap up this section into three parts but it looks like it's going to take four. But nevertheless, I hope you enjoy this one - many important things still happen here :)

* * *

><p><em><span><strong>The Uchiha Massacre - II<strong>_

* * *

><p><strong>Sakura<strong>

Sakura is worried.

Sakura is _extremely fucking worried._

Under her tree, the Uchiha guards chat casually outside their compound, masking the stifling tension soaked in the air.

Around her, civilians walk past, up and down the street, doing their usual business. The sun shines bright. The birds continue to fly.

But Sakura is _extremely fucking worried._

On the surface everything seems nice and dandy. The Hokage and the Uchiha seem to be buddies, cooperating on the upcoming Konoha Spring Festival. The Spring Festival which is to take place _after_ the original date of the massacre. It all seems fine.

Except she's worried. The Hyuuga predict _civil war_. And the Hyuuga are _rarely _wrong.

Sakura takes another deep breath and adjusts her clothing. Black is not a big part of her eight-year-old wardrobe so she'd ended up borrowing some of Hinata's clothes. It's probably for the better though, now that she thinks about it, because only the best is made for the clan heiress. The ones she has on now are primed for camouflage and maximise flexibility and speed.

Plus, at eight, her and Hinata have much more similar bodies.

But really, all that matters is inconspicuousness. Because Sakura plans on taking a big risk today.

Sakura is planning on eavesdropping on an Uchiha meeting.

A few nights ago she'd managed to secure a talk with the Hyuuga's informant within the Uchiha. The Hyuuga hadn't asked many questions, luckily, as even Arumi seemed to have warmed up to her. So she'd manage to sweeten them enough for them to promise not to pry, and that's all she really needed.

The informant had been an Uchiha girl born out of wedlock. She'd carried enough scorn of her own for her clan to match even Neji. It was a prime catch for the Hyuuga – in fact, Arumi had estimated that she'd probably even surpassed the Hokage's informant.

Not that she does, Sakura knows, considering the Hokage's informant is the clan heir.

But of course, she didn't say anything about that, only graciously thanked them before meeting with the informant.

Of course, the girl wasn't very compliant with someone who wasn't paying her, and it wasn't like the Hyuuga were willing to pitch in money for some eight-year-old civvie Hinata picked up, even if she was becoming extremely proficient.

So Sakura had had to resort to some of her old knowledge.

Her Root knowledge.

It hadn't been a pleasant experience for the informant, but Sakura had genjutsu'd her at the end to save her the trauma. It wasn't something she'd ever really want anybody to feel and _remember._

Except maybe some people.

But that was beside the point. She had managed to secure information – information she doubted that even Sasuke knew – about the date of the next major gathering of the Uchiha elders. What the meeting was to be about, the informant didn't know understandably, but Sakura knows that she has the skills to sneak in so it doesn't matter either way.

Sakura hopes it isn't civil war but with the Uchiha, you never know. No matter how amicable relationships seem on the surface, the Uchiha can always backstab you. Viciously.

Prime example: Sasuke.

But that's a _whole _other issue.

Beneath her, the guards retreat back into the compound – it's time for the changing of the guard and will be the perfect time for her to sneak in.

As soon as the two are reasonably far away, Sakura henges her features – plain brown hair and brown eyes - and drops down. She walks in naturally – the Uchiha are on high alert for intruders, not eight year old girls who accidently wonder into their compound.

There aren't many people around either, she notices, which is a bonus. The two new guards walk towards her but she keeps her henge up confidently. In fact, being inconspicuous in the Uchiha compound is a lot easier than it is in the Hyuuga compound – after all, no one walks around with a switched on sharingan for fun and the Uchiha are nowhere near as sensitive to chakra as the Hyuuga.

"Hey!" a guard calls out from a distance. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to see Sasuke-kun!" she calls back in her best baby voice. "We have to do a holiday assignment today for class!"

Except Sasuke's not at the compound. But the new guards don't know it, because they haven't been on guard. Sakura's excuse isn't perfect but she'll only need it to get past the guards anyway.

The guard shrugs and continues towards the gate. He doesn't seem to care much about her but then again to them she's only an eight-year-old civie girl, so what really can she do?

A lot, but they don't know that.

Continuing her path, Sakura ducks off the path and towards the side wall of the main compound. According to the floor plan of the compound she had managed to reap off the Hyuuga, she should be right around the corner from the side entrance.

Sakura takes a deep breath and racks her memory again. That means she needs to take… two steps to the right and she'll be under the window of the dining room. After that, she'll need to get inside and proceed to the meeting room. That way she won't have to explain what she's doing on the opposite side of the house to Sasuke's room.

But first she needs to scout. Not many people seem home – she stretches out her chakra but only comes into contact with four presences. Itachi isn't home, and neither is Sasuke – but she'd known that. There are three in one room – the meeting room – and a fourth upstairs. Mikoto? Feels like it, but she can't be sure. She isn't familiar enough with her chakra signature to be sure.

But that doesn't matter – what does, is that she's too far away to be a real issue.

In fact, she probably won't even need to pull out the big guns yet.

Sakura sneaks over and gradually begins to muffle her chakra. It's not a fast enough change to trip a signal in any surrounding ninja's brain, and it won't draw attention to her unless people are looking. And they won't be, because no one in this time has the chakra control to perfect that technique. Plus, it helps that she's constantly supplying chakra to her seal, which means her chakra signature was pretty diminutive anyway. It's nothing the Uchiha should notice.

Finally, she has it muffled and Sakura is pretty much invisible on the chakra scale. It's only the physical side she needs to be worried about now, but the main compound seems pretty deserted anyway.

Shallowing her breathing to quieten the sound, Sakura slips across the wall and up through the window, into the dining room.

Sakura lands as quietly as she can, taking in her surroundings. And the first thing she notices is that the room itself is exactly the same as when she last saw it a lifetime ago, surprisingly.

It seems even Sasuke was too attached to change the interior decoration.

But… that's not why she's here.

Creeping silently, Sakura slips out into the hallway and dashes across till she's right outside the meeting room.

She pauses, reaching out again and feeling for Mikoto's signature, making sure the woman is too far away to be a threat. And she is. Good.

Sakura takes a small, steadying breath, calming her heart rate. She can't freak. Not now.

Taking a deep breath and making sure to place a layer of muffling chakra over herself, Sakura spikes chakra to her ears.

"-this is perfect."

"Don't be too confident Eru. Hubris may be the death of the Uchiha."

"Wise words Tabita. But Eru is right in the fact that this new level of cooperation has begun to create an atmosphere of complacency."

"So you still believe we should go forward with the rebellion Mako?"

"We must. Too much lies at stake. Konoha has stampeded over us for too long. We must not allow them to continue. And Fugaku shares my views. I know it. Think of all the possibilities – our informants within the Hyuuga are ready for my orders. We could have the byakugan! The main family is weak – both of their children are young and vulnerable. They will not stand a chance. This is our opportunity to secure the byakugan."

"Yes. That will go far in furthering the sharingan. Talks are that the stage after is the rinnegan. Then the Uchiha would fully crush the Senju."

"Yes, Eru, as they should be crushed. They are not treating us Uchiha right. Look at it all – our compound is isolated and we have our own police system which does not do anything. We should not allow this to continue. Even the civilians think they are better than us! And maybe in the Hokage's eyes, they are!"

"The Curse of Hatred is strong within you Mako, and you Eru. Our whole clan is infected."

"No, Tabita. It is not a Curse of Hatred. It is _reality, _you must see that!"

"…exactly. I _must."_

"But it doesn't matter. The plan will go on. Konoha will be crushed. And all the more, because they are unprepared! Did you hear of all the stories of hate-"

"Perpetrated by a child!"

"Yes! A child never lies. A child-"

"Lies!"

"No. A child tells the honest truth. They tell of things as they hear them. The village is growing more and more hostile, Tobita, and it's time we _fight back."_

A new chakra signature jolts Sakura out of her reverie.

_Sasuke. Outside the front gate._

She needs to get out, but her mind is whirling.

_This can't be true._

Not in this moment of peace. The Uchiha can't – they _mustn't-_

_But they are._

And _Hinata._

She must go but-

"-when?"

"We can pre-emptive, exactly a month from now – November 16. Sabotage the administrations building, burn the files, the mission records and reports, the mission requests. That will send the Hokage Tower and all the ninja into chaos. And then, three days later, we attack."

Sakura's heart hammers in her chest, so loud that she's scared it'll give her position away. But this new information has taken her breath away – she can hardly _breathe._

"What if it doesn't work?"

"Then we regroup. Re-evaluate. But it'll provide enough distraction for us to attack. And the Hyuuga are prepared, which means we should keep a careful eye on them too. But we can discuss this further when Fugaku returns from his mission. After all, he is the most invested in the byakugan."

"Of course…"

It's too close. _Sasuke's _too close.

He'll find her, and she needs to _leave. _

But she needs to stop this – all of this, this civil war, this carnage – it _must not happen._

Which means…

_The massacre must happen._

But first-

Sakura tears out of the Uchiha compound at lightning fast speed – a signature Naruto technique, actually.

It uses up quite a bit of chakra, but she's in no battle. There's no need to conserve her chakra.

Sakura quickly henges her features again, just in case – blonde hair, blue eyes – she knows Danzou is meticulous enough to try to trace her message.

Her message. One which will seal the fate of her best friend.

Her… _ex-_best friend?

No. She can't think like this. Not now.

Sakura slows her run down to a speed visible to civilians. She has to calm herself, figure out a way to stop Danzou from discovering that she's sent the message – but to also let him _trust _her message.

Sakura smiles sardonically. Who would've thought her analysis of Root business would ever be so useful?

Except it isn't 'useful', is it? Because she's destroying Sasuke.

No.

Sasuke will-

_Konoha _will live.

Plus, she's just a civilian kid so no one will suspect her. Sakura slows to a stop just outside Konoha markets, ducking off the path and into the surrounding bushes. Then, taking a deep breath, she throws herself against a tree.

"Fantastic," she mutters. Scrambling back up, she throws herself against the tree again.

The end result is a myriad of cuts along her arms, as well as some bloody knees. A success in the whole.

Sakura stops the automatic flow of healing chakra which flows to the area, instead summoning the obligatory tears as she waddles through Konoha Markets towards the hospital, civilian paced.

The hospital itself is quite busy – flu season is fast approaching and she knows firsthand how flustered the medics are during that time. But that's a plus for her – they'll be too distracted to really pay attention to her.

She limps into the reception and weaves through the bustling doctors and patients.

Standing on her tippy toes, Sakura peers over the counter with teary eyes.

"Can I have a bandaid?" she blubbers.

The receptionist sighs, looking down at her scrapes and cuts. Sakura knows that look – it's the '_we're so busy really?' _look_ – _but he acquiesces and swivels around on his chair, reaching down for the drawer of bandaids.

Sakura takes his distraction to nab a pen and paper, shoving it into her pockets.

"Here you go," the receptionist says, swivelling around on his chair before handing her a packet of band aids.

"Thank you!" Sakura says, grinning widely.

She takes the packet of band aids and hurries to a small secluded corner. Then, quickly making sure her back is turned on the public she grabs a few band aids, plastering them on quickly. She takes the remaining time to scribble quickly on the paper-

_November 16. Uchiha attack. Adminstration building._

Then she folds it in half, quickly drawing a moon on the outside, writing next to it _18/5/4/4/1/14_

She'll drop it off at Root base, and the fact that she knows the location plus the codes on the front will verify the validity of the note. The moon signifies a 'night operator' – or, in other words, a spy of the highest degree. The numbers correspond to the letters REDDAN respectively – standing for Code Red, and Danzou. The Root Operative will recognise the emergency, and know that the note must go immediately straight to Danzou.

Turns out all that time in Root turned out to be useful after all.

She brings the remaining band aids back to the receptionist, giving him a big toothy smile.

"Thanks!" she says, much brighter than she feels as she slips the pen back onto the counter. Once Danzou realises that none of his operatives sent the note he'll probably try to trace it. The ink will match up to this pen, but the fact that so many people have used it covers up her fingerprints accurately.

And Root Operatives only report once a fortnight, and all are scheduled to come in at varied times, so hopefully Danzou will remain blissfully oblivious until after November 16. But for the moment, she has to sabotage the Uchiha rebellion.

Sakura walks outside again, civilian paced.

Casually, she slips into the neighbouring dango shop – one of Uchiha Itachi's favourite destinations, actually.

Sakura folds her written note inside a five dollar note.

"Two dango please," she says to the cashier. "Take away."

"Of course," the undercover Root operative says friendlily. "Two dango, coming right up!"

Sakura waits, biting her lip as she surveys the rest of the shop. It's got a few customers here and there, but overall it's a quiet afternoon.

"Here you go," the cashier says, handing her her dango.

"Thanks!" Sakura says brightly, grabbing some coins from her pocket to pay before stuffing the five dollar note in the jar with the other tips.

The dango shop's opening hours are ending soon, which means the operatives will be emptying the tip jar. If procedure is still the same, around an hour later they'd take it to the back and sift through all the tips, looking for notes from spies. They would then slip through the basement of the dango shop, through a series of underground passages and into Root headquarters.

If all went well, the note would hopefully get to Danzou before the end of tonight, giving Konoha ample time to prepare for the Uchiha attack.

Job completed, Sakura can finally convince her heart rate to slow. She walks out of the dango shop and checks the perimeter before quickly undoing her henge.

Her work is done.

The Uchiha will be stopped.

* * *

><p><strong>Sasuke<strong>

Sasuke detects a flicker of chakra.

He whirls around but it's nothing. All he sees is Sakura outside the dango shop. Fantastic.

He turns back around and concentrates intensely but the headquarters of ANBU Root continues to elude him.

It has eluded him for _eight bloody years._

Recently, he'd isolated the member of the Yamanaka – Yamanaka Fuu – but the guy turned out to be a legendary sensor nin, so any chance of tailing him flew out the window.

That long month with Ino – for _nothing._

Except he had heard that for a time, Danzou had gone around the clans recruiting members, but just as luck would have it, the Uchiha were never obligated to obey as they were already 'playing their part in the protection of the village' through the Military Police Force.

So it was just his luck really. After all that, Sasuke is _still _grasping at straws.

He'd also spend hours thinking back to his meetings with Sakura, trying to divulge any information she might have slipped through, or places he'd seen her. But after Root business, Sakura had always insisted on meeting at the dango shop. Which was absolutely useless as it was right in the middle of Konoha and gave him no clue as to where the headquarters were hidden.

However much he hates the man, he has to admit that Danzou knows how to do his job and do it well.

Great.

And on top of that, the Hokage had been doing some _bizarre _things he had definitely _not _done last time around.

Like putting the Uchiha in charge of the annual Konoha Spring Festival.

What. Even.

The Uchiha are in no way equipped to deal with such a huge responsibility, but the amount of trust placed on the Uchiha has made some Uchiha beginning to soften up to the Hokage.

Sasuke has not spent _this much time _brewing hate within the Uchiha for it to be dissipated by some ripple action he himself caused.

No.

Konoha is going down, and it won't work if the Uchiha are on its side. The Uchiha must be on _his _side, the _destruction _side. Even if he has to somehow genjutsu Itachi through the whole process.

And speaking of Itachi, his brother had been increasingly absent from clan meetings – so absent that with his progress, his father had even considered bringing _him _along.

And it sucks because Sasuke _knows _that Itachi is doing Hokage stuff. His brother, in all his self-sacrificial glory, is aiding the person who will one day _kill him._

Indirectly or whatever, it's the same. Konoha will kill him, will kill the Uchiha, will – and _have – _killed Team 7.

Disgusting.

Sasuke resists the urge to spit – _never tarnish the Uchiha name, _his father says – but he does stomp all the way to his compound gates. He is not in a particularly good mood, and even the Uchiha gate guards shrink back slightly as they let the fuming youngster into the compound.

Even at a mere eight years old, Uchiha Sasuke seems to still be able to project his scary ANBU commander glare from the future.

Sasuke makes his way to the dining room – his new favourite place in the house. Firstly, it's right next to the meeting room, convenient for any eavesdropping expeditions. Secondly, it has food, and Sasuke has learnt from years on the run that food should not be taken for granted. Thirdly, it's where Itachi likes to spend his time the few hours he _is _at home, probably for the same two prior reasons.

But today, Itachi isn't here. Not that Sasuke expected any different – it's a month before the massacre now, and even though the Spring Festival has temporarily slowed the escalation to civil war, tensions are still running high. Knowing Danzou the old bat though he's probably already planning the massacre.

Sasuke suppresses an instinctive gag reflex. He'd desensitised himself from the event in his past life with the help of Sakura, but now that he's spent eight years surrounded by that nostalgic cocoon of family, the loss suddenly seems much more prominent and eminent than it ever did before.

But it will _not _be a loss. He will _prevent it._

This wasn't a move he had previously planned – and maybe it was fuelled by his terrible mood – but Sasuke will _not _let the massacre go through. Not if he in his eight-year-old glory can help it.

He thinks back to a conversation he had had with Sakura – she'd finally started adjusting to life in Root, and had told him how apparently it was a 'tradition' of the Konoha Council Members to visit the communal baths at the end of each month. It wasn't done for any sake of real want – rather, it was because the council wanted to keep up their appearances for the civilians and the lower-level ninja who weren't as informed or involved in Konoha politics. That way they made themselves appear connected to the community.

That was also the conversation where she had confided that amidst all the torture and the darkness and the killing, she knew that everybody there was capable of being defeated. They were capable of being defeated because they showed character. And character means that one is human, and if one is human, one is not invincible.

But that was a train of thought he liked to apply to others, and not to himself.

He's not sure exactly when this monthly tradition occurs, but he's sure that it must've been over, for the new month has just started.

Which means that this plan might actually work.

Sasuke pauses and feels for the room next door – only three chakra signatures. The three elders maybe? Or his parents and Elder Mako?

Sakura would be useful right now.

But he has to manage by himself. Alone, this time around.

Shaking his head quickly, Sasuke thinks back to the cellars of Orochimaru and plasters on his most traumatised face.

And then he knocks on the door, lip trembling.

A few moments later it swings open and Elder Mako looks down. His eyes soften almost imperceptibly and Sasuke feels another tug at his heart at the possibility that in one moment, his whole family may be gone. _Again. _

"Hello Sasuke," Elder Mako greets.

"Hi," Sasuke says, slightly teary. "A-am I interrupting something?"

Elder Mako smiles wanly. "No. We were just finishing up. Why don't you come in?"

Sasuke manages a small smile, still keeping up with his traumatised façade.

Elder Tabita looks up as he enters.

"Sasuke child," she says gravely, "Are you alright? You look frighteningly pale."

Sasuke shrugs. "I just heard something at the baths, that's all. It's just got me a bit worried. There was this guy with a bandage over his eye-"

Immediately the three elders snap to attention.

"Continue," Mako says constrainedly.

"And he talked of something to do with the Uchiha and – and November 26th." That was the day the massacre had occurred last time around. "But- but he said he wasn't sure. Sometime around there. And he mentioned…"

Sasuke pauses. This is a dangerous move, but it is necessary. His clan must be _prepared, _even if it means sacrificing…

"-he also mentioned N-n-Nii-san."

Elder Tabita takes a deep, shuddering breath. Eru cocks an eyebrow. Mako simply eyes him steadily.

"I see," Elder Mako says slowly, his eyes guarded. He turns his back on Sasuke and waves his hand.

"Leave us," he says briskly.

Sasuke bows his head respectfully and retreats. No doubt the elders are on high alert with this new information, but Sasuke risks a quick eavesdrop.

"This corroborates with the intel we have already," he hears Elder Eru say. "Something must be done."

Sasuke smiles.

Yes. Something must be done.

But he needs to leave before the elders come out. Job finished, Sasuke quickly shunshin's back out to Konoha Markets.

Because he still. Needs. To find. Bloody. Fucking. Root.

Sighing, Sasuke stands and watches.

* * *

><p><strong>Naruto<strong>

Naruto's holidays are proving frightfully uneventful.

All the other kids in his class have been having play dates or what not – or, in the clan kids' case, training sessions together.

But the most he's had is a few training sessions here and there with Hinata. And even he can tell that even she doesn't have the time to hang out with him – especially with all her extra heiress duties and the unwillingness of the Hyuuga to see their heiress hanging out with the likes of him.

A few times though, he's caught Sasuke and Sakura looking at him, but that's probably because this time around he's much more in tune to them both, and everything they do, every little action they make, he's overanalysing and nit-picking. He's always thinking that his two teammates are up to something or another, but really, they're just _kids. _All this free time has gotten to his head.

But the bountiful amounts of time he's had on his hands has also allowed him to find a second home at the Hokage tower.

He spends most of his days there with the Hokage, trying to familiarise himself with Konoha's dealing in this time. Unfortunately, Konoha's political history was not a course he paid too much attention in during his Hokage training – he'd always preferred making new bonds and creating _new _history.

Of course, the Hokage didn't mind. After all, sensitive files were well out of his reach, and there was nothing in there lying around that was dangerous – after all, the cleaner could pick them up and read, and anything safe for the cleaner to read was safe for Naruto to read.

But on a few occasions, matters too sensitive for his ears came up and he was expelled from the office.

This is one of those times.

"Naruto," Sarutobi says gravely. "Go now."

Naruto reaches over to sort the file back in the drawer but the Hokage raises a hand.

"Go now," he repeats. "_Now."_

"Okay," Naruto shrugs, tucking the folder under his arm and waddling back outside. The person outside the window looked ANBU – but Root or not, he wasn't sure.

He suspects it might have something to do with the Uchiha massacre – after all, the date is drawing nearer and nearer – but he won't risk eavesdropping. Not when two such strong shinobi are evidently on high alert. Sasuke might've been able to pull it off, Sakura definitely, but with his level of chakra control and unstable reserves, who knew what would happen.

He should just be grateful Danzou isn't on his case. The last time he saw him the old man had been suspicious to say the least. Even though Naruto had tried his hardest to seem natural he knew that he had failed. Spectacularly. Danzou knew he didn't like him, and he also knew that Naruto had been making suggestions to the Hokage – suggestions the Hokage _accepted._

But lately the elder seems preoccupied by something else. The massacre? But that isn't to occur until November 26. And it's only the beginning of November anyway.

But then again, an event like this must've been weeks, months, even years in planning.

Naruto sighs. If only he had decided to sort through the massacre records himself rather than delegating it to Sasuke and Sakura. He'd have a much better understanding.

But… this will have to do.

Naruto steels himself and clutches the folder tightly to his chest. The matter must be urgent for the Hokage to usher him out of the office with a file still in his hand. Naruto looks back at the door forlornly – could he?

No.

Thus resigned to not knowing what was happening behind the closed doors, Naruto makes his way down the stairs of the Hokage tower and outside into the bustling Konoha Markets. Immediately a burst of cold air hits him – even though it is only the beginning of November the air is already on its way to the winter climate.

But he supposes it isn't too bad – after all, he's been stuck in prison cells in Kirigakure during winter – and it is _cold _there. Their torture system wasn't nearly as advanced as places like Iwagakure, but the cold itself was torture enough. In comparison, Konoha is like a playground.

Yeah he should be fine-

Or not.

Naruto squints at Sasuke who's standing right in the middle of Konoha Markets, looking extremely thoughtful.

Maybe he's lost?

But that's none of his business. And Naruto certainly doesn't want to spend more time in the cold air than necessary. After all, he's spent many years enduring harsh conditions, so why not make the most of the resources around him?

Naruto weaves through the crowd and bursts into the civilian library, moaning in delight as the warm heating envelops his body.

Across from him, the librarian shoots him a glare.

"Shh!" he hisses.

"Sorry!" Naruto whispers back.

He tiptoes his way across the library and towards the plush seating near the back. The chairs in the library were always soft and fluffy, and they'd been his favourite place to relax as a-

Naruto pauses.

Then, he peers around a stack of books.

"_Itachi?!_"

The Uchiha heir looks up from his book – '_Konoha, its history, and Sunagakure'._

"Naruto," he says, surprised.

"Hi," Naruto says blankly. His previous conversations with the heir have been along the lines of _don't kill Sasuke, don't kill _me, _save Sasuke…_ He's not quite sure what to say to him, now that they're finally in an amicable context. Not to mention, the 'cold-blooded killer' is… thirteen.

"Hello," Itachi says softly.

"Wait," Naruto says. "How'd you know my name?"

Itachi quirks an eyebrow. "How did you know mine?"

"You're Sasuke's brother," Naruto says heavily. Those three words will be words which will dominate the experience of most of his later life. Really, it is the two brothers and everything connected to them which spirals Naruto into the person he is now.

"Yes," Itachi says. "And you're his classmate."

_I'm also the kyuubi jinchuuriki._

"Yes," Naruto says instead. His eyes shoot down to his book. "You like history?"

Itachi smiles – well, as close to a smile as an Uchiha can get. But Naruto's had lots of practice recognising Sasuke's.

"I love it," he says simply.

And then Naruto pauses, suddenly remembering the file he had been reading when the Hokage had sent him out of the tower. Previously, he had thought it'd be impossible to send Itachi on a mission unless it was ordered by the Hokage himself, or Itachi requested it.

Or Itachi requested it.

Of course, the Hokage had to approve it but this –_ this is a tangible possibility_.

Naruto feels his heartbeat speeding up in anticipation and quickly takes a deep breath, trying to calm it. Uchiha Itachi has always been extremely sensitive, and it won't do to alert him to anything suspicious now.

"That's amazing," Naruto settles on saying. "I love history too!" Lies. "In fact, I was at the Hokage's office just then before Ojii-san kicked me out, and I found this mission which would be _incredible! _But it requires a genin rank."

"Oh?" Itachi asks, "What is it?"

Naruto whips out the file and opens it.

"It's an archaeological recovery mission – some ruins on the border near Sunagakure. They think they might've found a gravesite of our early ancestors. It's only C-rank though, but it goes for two weeks."

Itachi frowns at the timing – evidently it isn't great considering how high tensions are running and his tenuous position.

"It would be good to relax," Naruto says quickly. "I mean, you look tired. But I guess the best judge of that would be the Hokage right? It wouldn't be good to limit your chances before you try them out. Why don't you ask him? There's no harm in that."

Itachi frowns contemplatively. "I might."

"You should!" Naruto says enthusiastically, remembering just barely to curb his enthusiasm so that it's not too overbearing. The Itachi right now is volatile, and everything and anything could dissuade him.

"Here's the file," Naruto says resolutely. "Take it. Ask the Hokage."

Itachi stares at the yellow file in Naruto's hands.

Finally, he puts down his book.

"Maybe some rest will be good," he says. He grasps the yellow folder, nods at the younger boy, and heads outside.

Naruto resists the urge to cheer. He's set the plan in motion – all he needs now is for it to _succeed._

But the chances of the Hokage approving it are small. After all, Itachi's a key informant within the Uchiha clan.

But hopefully Itachi's plea will sway the Hokage. After all, his Ojii-san has always had a soft spot for children, and maybe for once pure empathy will win out.

Mentally, Naruto counts to sixty before casually walking out of the library.

He's not going to leave things like that – he _has _to find out what happens. This is a once-in-two lifetimes' chance, and he needs to know how things will turn out.

Quickly suppressing his chakra to the best of his ability, Naruto runs towards the Hokage's tower. He stops right outside – Itachi is making his way inside, civilian paced. But he seems calm, and hopefully the easy atmosphere will deter him from trying to sense anything unusual – Naruto's not sure how long he can remain inconspicuous if that happens. After all, Itachi is one of the best.

Mentally counting another thirty, Naruto walks into the Hokage's tower and makes his way up the stairs, his footsteps quiet.

Faintly, he hears a few knocks on the door. A few seconds later, he hears the door swing shut.

Cautiously, Naruto peers up – no one has left the office which means the stairs are clear.

Muffling his footsteps, Naruto quickly shuffles up and places his ear against the wall.

"-the C-rank?" Sarutobi says, surprised.

"It is… to my liking," Itachi says quietly.

And then suddenly – "What did you say the dates were?"

Naruto freezes – that's _Danzou. _He would never let Itachi leave – his plan is _doomed._

"November 5th to November 19th."

"…I see," Danzou says quietly.

"I'm not sure-" Sarutobi begins, but Danzou cuts in.

"Go," he says. "Hokage-sama, I recommend him _go. _I have matters to discuss with you, remember? They are important matters. Itachi will go."

There're a few beats of silence.

"Very well," Sarutobi says.

Naruto suppresses an inner cheer. But it's evident that the meeting's nearly over, so he should get away before they see him.

He makes his escape quickly and quietly, but inside, he's bursting with joy.

His plan has worked – Itachi will be away until the 19th. Shisui is still alive which means that this time he can push back Itachi's mangekyou – maybe even prevent it entirely. And last time the massacre occurred on the 26th so this time, if he follows Itachi, delays his trip home, he might be lucky enough to avoid the massacre in its entirety. One week is a long time to delay someone, but he's seen it happen. Will _make _it happen.

The Uchiha will live.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>So uh, when I said the climactic things don't happen in this chapter I was kinda lying. Important things happen, but the real stuff happens soon. Which also means, unfortunately, next update might be slow. There's a lot to get through and I don't know if I'll be able to get it out, especially since I'll be quite busy - EXAMS. UH. Also, I haven't forgotten my other fic Cadaverous Bloom for those of you who read it, I've just not had much inspiration for it lately. But I _will _endeavor to finish it.

Anyway, yeah. It looks like Sakura's message got to Danzou in time. He knows of the attack on the 16th, which is why he's let Itachi go off - he thinks that Itachi's absence will be beneficial to his chances of succeeding which is why he's willing to let him go.

I have a pretty good idea of whether or not I want the massacre to happen, but let me know what you think. My plans are kind of whacko so your input would be great.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed last time: **DaManKaliel, AnimeLover3232, Guest, Broken Reveries, Guest, Lonely Athena, KRIOSdaBOSS, Magevn, curious viewer, AvidReader, Guest** and** Suzululu4moe.** You guys make my day!

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Please send me a review, let me know what you think. Love you all xx


	6. The Uchiha Massacre - III

**AN: **So... shit happens in this chapter. It's quite intense, and what I thought I would fit into one chapter I couldn't, so the Uchiha Massacre goes on to IV. This... depressed me, and most of you already guessed what was going to happen so... yeah. Also doing some replies to comments/questions down below :)

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>The Uchiha Massacre - III<span>_  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Naruto<strong>

"…for me? Really?"

Hinata flushes, bowing her head. Next to her, Sakura smiles softly, eyes downcast. Naruto resists the urge to fidget and keeps his eyes trained on the Hyuuga heiress. With Sakura so close he has to keep a tenuous hold on his emotions – he can't break this close to the massacre. Especially when Iruka-sensei is still watching the remaining three students with careful eyes.

Ever since the end of the holidays parents have been quick in picking up their kids. He hadn't noticed it last time – he was much too oblivious back then – but now the tension within Konoha is evident. Parents are twitchy and the Academy has a few extra jounins wondering around 'casually'. Similarly, there's been an increased ninja presence in public places like Konoha Markets, the Hokage tower, and especially the administrations building.

In fact, he even saw ANBU stationed there, which was strange as the administrations building was a civilian service mainly.

But who knew.

"I made it yesterday from some herbs I connected," Hinata says, snapping him back to reality. "It should work for pretty much everything. It's like an all-rounder really. No matter if it's a bruise or a cut, it should be able to help!"

"Wow Hinata! That's fantastic!" Naruto grins, taking the salve gently. It looks and smells just like the ones she made a lifetime ago. "Thank you," he repeats sincerely.

"No problem," Hinata says. "But Sakura-chan helped me a lot!"

"Maa Hinata," Sakura scolds, waving her hand in the air. "Don't lie, you made it yourself."

Naruto's smile falters for a second before reappearing full force.

"Thanks anyway!" he smiles brightly, fingers tightening their hold on the ointment.

"No problem," Sakura says, averting her eyes. "Come on Hinata. Let's go. Your father's waiting for you."

"Oh no!" Hinata gasps. "I completely forgot!"

"Come on now," Sakura says, rolling her eyes. "Let's go."

She grasps the other girl's hand and pulls her away, out the Academy doors and towards the Hyuuga chuunin waiting outside.

"Bye," Naruto whispers, but the two girls are already gone.

He swallows harshly.

"See you later," he amends.

He turns around to grab his bag, getting ready for the journey ahead.

"Naruto."

'I-Iruka-sensei," he stumbles, turning around.

"Naruto," Iruka repeats softly, pulling up a chair in front of him. "You've been doing a really good job lately."

"Wow uh… thanks Iruka-sensei," Naruto says awkwardly.

"You ah… You've improved a lot lately but I've noticed that you're ah… you aren't ah…" Iruka rubs the back of his sheepishly, trying to find the right words to say.

"Doing as well?" Naruto sighs. "Yeah. I know."

"Hey," Iruka says determinedly, leaning forward to look him in the eye. "I used to think that you would never be Hokage like you wanted, but you've worked hard mate. You've done good. You've improved a lot and I really believe you can stop yourself from slipping back to dead last. In fact, I could probably help-"

"Nah," Naruto says quickly. "Really. I'm fine. You don't need to worry."

_Please don't worry. _

Iruka leans back. "You don't have to be scared of asking for help Naruto."

"I-uh… yeah. I know."

Naruto swallows, looking away from Iruka. He was one of the few who survived the war – Naruto made sure of that. But it's strange talking to him now, at such a young age. Iruka had never taken a notice of him before, probably because he _did_ seem like a failure, always being dead last and never improving. This time around, now that he's proved he's actually worth something Iruka is being much more friendly.

"But really though, I don't need any help." He can't have help – otherwise Team 7 won't happen and it _needs _to.

"…alright then," Iruka sighs. "Go on now."

"See ya sensei," Naruto says sheepishly, swinging his bag around his shoulder.

"Goodbye Naruto," Iruka says with a sigh.

Steeling himself, Naruto walks out without a glance back. He needs to stop himself from getting too emotionally attached – this is a new world and these people are not the people he knew and loved a lifetime ago. They don't have the same experiences; they aren't tainted by the deaths of a large portion of their community.

Naruto skids to a stop outside the Academy.

"_Shisui?_"

Said Uchiha snaps to attention – not from surprise, Naruto knows – he's too good for that – but from shock that the young boy knows his name.

"That is- I mean…" Naruto stammers, unsure of how to cover up his fault. "I- uh- I- uh…"

"You must be Sasuke's friend," Shisui says bemusedly.

"Yes!" Naruto says quickly. "I mean no! I mean- what are you doing here?"

"Oh," Shisui says, "I'm here to speak to Iruka-senpai."

"About Sasuke?"

Shisui continues to smile, unfazed – only Naruto's trained eyes can pick up the slight twitch of his lips which signal an Uchiha's surprise.

"What are you still doing here?" Shisui opts to ask instead. "Class finished awhile ago."

Naruto pauses – is Uchiha Shisui friend or foe? He knows – everyone knows – that he is immensely devoted to the Uchiha clan.

But he's even more dedicated to the village.

Itachi had said to him a lifetime ago that above all else, Shisui wanted someone to inherit his will and ideals. And he had believed that that person was Naruto.

"I'm worried about Sasuke," Naruto says, and it's perhaps the most truthful thing he's said his whole life.

Shisui smiles sadly. "Yeah. Me too. Me too."

For a moment, Naruto feels as if he's transcended time and space and there's only him and Shisui, here, united by their common goal of _Konoha for the good _and _Sasuke and Itachi. _

"Well then," Shisui says quietly, breaking the silence, "I'll be going then."

"Okay," Naruto replies softly. "…stay safe."

Shisui smiles sadly. "I'll… try."

And then he's gone.

Naruto stares at the space the older Uchiha once stood before letting out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Uchiha Shisui is _real, _and _alive. _

But he won't be soon if he doesn't do anything.

Naruto slings his backpack over his shoulder. While it's got everything he needs for the Academy in it – books, stationary – it also has everything he'll need for the trip – soldier pills, hair dye for backup, some protein bars and a few bottles of water. He's forgone a map this time – he's traipsed around the countries enough, either with Jiraiya or as Hokage to know the lands like the back of his hand.

At least, that was what he told people a lifetime ago. Truthfully, it was the war which made everyone familiarise themselves with the harsh country. But he doesn't like to think that way.

Squaring his shoulders back, Naruto readies himself.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu," he whispers softly. A second clone appears opposite him, smiling encouragingly.

"Good luck!" his clone says with a hopeful grin.

"Thanks," Naruto smiles sheepishly. He pulls out his Academy resources from his bag and hands it to his clone.

"Hope you do shit in class," he grins.

"Hope you save some lives," his clone shoots back.

Naruto smiles. "I always do."

And then he shunshin's away. Itachi's mission is on the border of Sunagakure and Konohagakure so it's not a long run, especially for someone as trained as the Hokage. An eight-year-old version, at least.

In fact, now that he thinks back, Ebizu as a teacher might have been a blessing disguised as a curse. He was never a practical teacher which meant Naruto was never asked to display his skills, thus eliminating the risk of being suspicious completely. He focused on a whole new area that Naruto had never considered before and thus broadened his knowledge in a way he himself would have never done. Plus, he knew how to train himself physically anyway – Jiraiya racked that into him, if nothing else.

According to plans, he should arrive by the morning of the 16th – a solid night of running. The ruins themselves are in between Sand and Fire, in a town called Asezuka. The fifteen hours required to get there are probably one of the reasons why the Hokage accepted the mission – if an emergency was to occur, Itachi could be called for and back by the next day. He was just as good, probably even better, than any ANBU the Hokage could've sent to fetch him.

In fact, he had taken careful consideration of Itachi's skills – a feat only achieved through the patience, diligence and strategizing that _Ebisu _had taught him. He knows that Itachi is good – there's no doubt about that. After all, he's ANBU captain at only thirteen.

But there's a fact which all of Konoha, sans Sasuke, seems to have forgotten.

_He's only thirteen. _

Uchiha Itachi is only a boy. He is immature. While he's a genius, smart to the beyond, he is _thirteen. _

And those who acknowledge that fact do not understand it. They think that he can handle anything, that he has shown maturity beyond his years, that he is going to be Hokage.

And if Naruto had not known what he knew he would have agreed. Except he knows that Uchiha Itachi is fallible. He is fallible because he decided to tell his eight year old brother that he killed his family for power, and that he should dedicate his life to felling him.

This is the Itachi who, in the future, would acknowledge that maybe he made the wrong choice. Maybe, if he had trusted his brother from the beginning, none of what happened would have happened.

Itachi is fallible, and Naruto will fell him.

He makes sure to eat his protein bars regularly, out of habit if nothing else. They don't sit well with his stomach but he knows that however much he despises Sakura's piece of advice, it is definitely a helpful one. Many missions he and Sasuke had had to take regularly breaks every three hours to have one of Sakura's specially made deluxe bars for travelling.

Sakura really did take good care of them both. But these protein bars that he nicked from the market taste nowhere as good as hers did.

Naruto shakes his head. He can't afford to think about things like that during such a volatile period.

Hah. Another one of Ebisu's words of advice. He's on a roll today.

Naruto suppresses the urge to yawn. It's been too long since he's actually participated in something so physically exhausting. How long has it been now since he started? A few hours? From the landscape it looked like he was coming up to the crater.

The crater. Except it won't be a crater. The war hasn't happened. It will be… a town.

Naruto swallows harshly. He hadn't thought about it like that before. But he'd better hurry his speed up – he doesn't want to encounter anyone on his way there. And he isn't that great with henges anyway – he can try, but knowing him, it'll probably fail. But then again, that's why he's got the hair dye.

He halts to a stop at the edge of the forest bordering the Fire side of Asezuka. The first few rays of sunshine are rising and from what he remembers from the mission report, Itachi starts the archaeological dig at 7:30 each morning. That gives him around one and a half hours to get his stuff together. Should he try the henge…?

Might as well give it a go. So what if it's never been his forte? He can do it just fine. There's only the question if he'll be able to maintain it at a steady enough level not to alert a seasoned shinobi like Itachi.

He does have the hair dye as backup though. He hasn't – and probably never will – master that weird technique Sakura has which imitates a normal chakra signature, allowing her to do weird shit underneath. But he's pretty sure he's allergic to that stuff and it gives off a distinct smell that a shinobi will pick up.

And hair dye can only do so much. A henge will be much more effective – a fact he remembers clearly learning when he saw a twelve-year-old, pretty Sakura turn into a much older, gangly Iruka-sensei. Henge can do wonders.

So, henge it is then. He'll never know unless he tries.

Plus, once that's organised, he's got a good three days to observe the Uchiha and try to figure out a way to delay him. That's plenty of time.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto readies himself for the henge. Sure, he can perform one, but can he perform one to the standard that Uchiha Itachi will not detect? Either way, he won't know until he tries.

_Believe, _Naruto wills himself. Then, his hands whirl through the signs – _dog – boar – ram. _

A puff of smoke lights around if. Quickly, Naruto waves it away and looks down. The henge looks successful for the most – a generic black hair and green eyes. Accidently – perhaps – his eyes curve up in the same way Sakura's do, and his hair sticks up in the same, untamed way as Sasuke's.

But Naruto brushes that away. This is not the time to think of that.

First he has to find Itachi. And to do that he needs to use Sakura's technique. What were the hand signs again? Were there even hand signs?

Naruto sighs. He can't remember. It was too many years ago. It looks like he'll have to rely on old-fashioned scouting. There doesn't seem to be much activity in the town – his senses aren't picking up many footsteps or sounds. That's good enough, he supposes – even though Sakura's got her sophisticated chakra tricks he still has good old kyuubi-enhanced senses.

Naruto reaches for another protein bar, swinging his backpack over his shoulder.

Then he pauses.

He hears something – light, almost undetectable, disappearing here and there, reappearing later.

Footsteps. Coming here. _Fast. _Too fast for a civilian. Itachi?

He can't know. Kami Sakura would be useful now. But it's definitely a shinobi or a samurai with that speed, and there aren't any samurai around in these parts.

Naruto jumps up into the trees, cautiously avoiding making any sound. Being quiet has never been his strong point – Team 7 has never _needed _to be quiet. The big missions they'd rush in blaring, too powerful to be stopped anyway, and for the diplomatic missions, he knew everyone anyway so there was no need.

The stealth missions? Well, Sasuke and Sakura took care of those.

_Be aware of your surroundings, _Ebisu's voice rings out through his head. Naruto glances around him, taking note of every leaf and every branch, careful not to disrupt the environment. A small brush on a leaf could be the sound a seasoned shinobi needs to pick up a threat.

Naruto strains his ears again, listening. The footsteps are coming closer, just as quiet. In fact, if it weren't for his kyuubi enhanced senses, he probably would never have picked up the sounds of these footsteps. This shinobi is _good. _

Itachi good, he realises with frightening clarity.

Finally, a figure emerges from the gates of Asezuka.

Uchiha Itachi no longer obscures his footsteps, now that he's in plain view. But they're still quiet – Naruto supposes he can't be anything _but _perfect.

"I know you're there," Itachi says quietly.

Naruto freezes.

_What? _Did the heir sense him already? He must be extremely sensitive to chakra – as sensitive as Sakura, or a Hyuuga. But that can't be. He wouldn't have sensed him unless he was looking for him. Sure, Naruto's chakra control wasn't that good, but it wasn't _that _bad.

Naruto stays silent, hyper aware of his surroundings. Cautiously, his hands creep down to the weapons pouch he nicked from the Academy. But he has no idea what the younger boy is thinking – his face is emotionless, a perfect mask. He stands still too, making no sign of whether he's to attack or not. Even at thirteen, Uchiha Itachi is a genius.

"I've already found you anyway so you might as well come out."

Naruto stays deathly still, breath quiet as a graveyard. What is Itachi talking about? Naruto is growing more confused by the second, not to mention Itachi's just completely messed up all his plans so he's not quite sure where exactly to go from here.

"I've already caught you sneaking around Konoha. No one else has noticed but I have. And I already know who you are, Uchiha Madara. Why not come out and face me?"

_Oh my god, _Naruto thinks. He thinks my chakra signature is _Uchiha Madara's. _But it _is_ a valid conclusion he supposes, now that he thinks about it. Itachi isn't at Sakura's level yet, which means he can't differentiate between different people's chakra, but he's sensitive enough to know that Naruto has extremely large reserves – reserves only someone like Uchiha Madara would have. And Uchiha Madara had been sneaking around Konoha and Itachi had proposed that he help him massacre the Uchiha so that he would spare Konoha – had they already had this talk?

"I know you're mad I took this mission," Itachi says quietly, "but it was a necessity. I couldn't refuse the Hokage without looking suspicious."

So Itachi is lying to Madara. No surprise there.

"_But,"_ Itachi says, voice harder, "We also agreed that you would leave me alone, and only appear before me when the orders were given. So take this as a warning."

His eyes morph into the sharingan and Naruto tenses, ready for a fight. Shisui is still alive so he doesn't have to worry about the Tsukuyomi, Susanoo or the Amaterasu, luckily, but Itachi is still an ANBU Captain.

And then he shoots forward – _fast – _like _Raikage fast._

But Naruto is Minato's son.

He draws on nature chakra and throws himself to the side, hurtling across the trees. Itachi looks surprised – a minute twitch of the eyebrow – and he whirls around. But Naruto is already obscured in the leaves again.

"You're not Madara," Itachi says softly.

Naruto pauses – he must be joking right? He moved too fast for him to catch a glimpse of him. How could he know-

_Shit. That's right. He_ moved_ too fast. _If it were Madara he would have simply phased through with that annoying sharingan technique of his. But he didn't. He _dodged. _

Itachi looks suspicious. _Too suspicious. _

And then he shunshin's away.

_Fuck! _Naruto thinks. Where did he go? Did he go back to Asezuka? He reaches out with his chakra but he can't sense anything. Uchiha Itachi has completely obscured his chakra.

_I've got to calm down, _he tells himself. _If I were Uchiha Itachi what would I do?_

A new threat just emerged supposedly, one with a chakra signature as large as Uchiha Madara. He's tailing the Uchiha heir in the volatile weeks before the massacre. If it was Naruto, he would in Ebisu's words 'neutralise the threat' – or, in _Naruto's _words, beat the crap out of him. But he was Itachi. What would _Itachi _do?

He would report back to the Hokage. Uchiha Itachi is _on his way back to Konoha._

_Shit._

Naruto turns to rush away after him, jumping off the tree. Immediately, a swarm of ravens overwhelm him.

_A genjutsu._

Naruto curses. He's always been terrible at breaking genjutsu.

* * *

><p><strong>Sakura<strong>

Sakura shudders as her kage bunshin dispels, giving her the rundown of her day at the Academy. It's drained quite a bit of her chakra – _no one _has reserves like Naruto – but putting up an acceptable appearance is vital.

Well, it isn't really vital, but Sakura _really _wants to keep an eye out on the administrations building. From what her kage bunshin feeds her, today has been the same as all the others. Everything had seemed normal on the surface – Ami was still carrying on her tirade against her, Naruto's grades were dropping again, as everyone predicted. Ino was still dominating the kunoichi section. Sasuke was still being an arrogant twat.

Except… things felt forced. Disjointed. Sasuke's usual Uchiha cousin/buddy had disappeared and he seemed always on edge. Naruto was being a lot less rambunctious, and he always seemed pre-occupied during classes with something or another. Even the clan kids were feeling the tense atmosphere in Konoha. And of course Iruka-sensei was trying to put on a cheerful face, attempting to get everybody working like always.

Except the date was starkly white on the chalkboard. This morning had marked November 16.

Sakura lets out a shaky breath, leaning back against her tree. She's standing guard up in the foliage of the administrations building, henged as a squirrel. She scampers up the branch, grabbing a nut as she chews on it inconspicuously. Below her it's time for the changing of the guard – a new Root platoon has come to relieve the previous one. From what she's managed to see and the chakra fluctuations she's detected, it seems as if Root are hiding in the shadows while a small number of the Hokage's personal guard are stationed as civilians inside the building.

A blonde haired blue-eyed woman walks into the administrations building, a standard brown duffel bag slung over her shoulder.

Sakura narrows her eyes – there's something wrong there but she can't tell what. She doesn't have enough chakra to perform any advanced sensory techniques but she's got a hunch – there seems to be genjutsu at play there.

Which _would _be a smart move, she supposes. The Hyuuga are the only ones who can seamlessly see through genjutsu, and there certainly wouldn't be any in the administrations building – their eyes were a dead giveaway, thus ruling them out for undercover missions like these.

And her bag! What was in there? They had planned to burn the files – explosives? No, they had fire jutsu for that. But actually, no they _would _use explosives – fire jutsu would easily trace back to the Uchiha.

Sakura scampers down the tree and to the door of the administrations building. Have the guards picked up on the intruder? She peeks in – the Uchiha is exchanging niceties with the Hokage's disguised ANBU. All seems normal, but then again the Hokage's ANBU are the best. She probably wouldn't be able to tell if anything was wrong.

The hidden Uchiha reaches into her bag and shows the ANBU what seems to be an identification card. The ANBU smiles and waves her in – into the records!

Sakura hisses. What is he _doing?_

But then, behind his back, the ANBU makes a hand signal. Sakura relaxes.

He's going with the ANBU strategy 4E codename Rabbit Hide – catching the culprit in the middle of the crime. But knowing the importance of some of those records, he'll have to be quick and precise in his timing.

But Sakura doesn't have to worry – he's one of the Hokage's personal ANBU and if anyone can do it, he can.

Satisfied, Sakura scampers away towards the Hokage Tower.

She supposes she's been lucky – she wouldn't have actually been able to do anything. The kage bunshin had sucked up heaps of her chakra and that on top of having to keep up her seamless chakra cloak has pretty much stopped her from doing anything else. As much as she has tried, her chakra levels are still not what they used to be, especially with the Strength of a Hundred Seal she's been developing.

She _had _thought about foregoing the kage bunshin and simply calling in a sick day however she was beginning to think that Danzou may have been quicker in tracing her note than she had planned. She had felt eyes on her recently but she wasn't sure who they were from – the Hyuuga were a likely possibility, but so was Root.

Behind her, Sakura hears the commotion – the Uchiha attack has been thwarted. She smiles softly and continues on her path to the Hokage Tower – after all, she can't leave without seeing what happens, can she?

Once again, she thanks her perfect chakra control. She may not be as fast as Sasuke and Naruto, or have the same kick-ass, flashy jutsu and dojutsu but her perfect chakra control gives her perfect use over sensory jutsu, genjutsu, and medical jutsu. They were the front liners and she worked behind the scenes. Perhaps that was why she ended up with Root.

Sakura skids to a halt outside the Hokage Tower and looks up – an ANBU is stationed outside the window. Quickly, she darts up the adjacent tree, ears perked.

"-Tiger-san," the Hokage is saying, "Come in."

He opens the window and the ANBU slips in. A second later, a sound barrier slams around the room. It's a strong one, and Sakura won't be able to break it with the chakra she has left.

Frowning, Sakura reaches up into her forehead. She isn't happy with wasting probably a good three months' worth of storing but this is important. This is _vital._

"-at their compound, Hokage-sama. I have exiled them there until you can decide on a way to deal with this situation."

"They will have to be there awhile longer. I need to consult with the Council."

"Of course, Hokage-sama."

ANBU Tiger darts back outside and shunshin's towards the Uchiha Compound.

Sakura relaxes, letting out a shaky breath. Her job is done. The attack was thwarted, the Uchiha exiled into their compound until further action can be decided. She can now finally go home and have a well-deserved rest.

So she does. For the first time in what seems to be forever she sinks down on her couch and reads one of her mother's sappy romance books. The heroine is an idiot, the hero unrealistic, but it's a nice, a _perfect _respite from what she's been going through the past thirty years.

So she reads until the sun sets.

It is only a second after she puts the book down, moon half way in the sky, that she screeches.

Her parents rush down – _what's wrong? – _and she responds quickly with spider or something of the like, but her mind is too busy whirling because she sensed _Uchiha Itachi. _Back from his mission _three days early. On the same day as the Uchiha attack on the administrations building._

Sakura darts out of her house, henging into a squirrel just before she reaches her door and locks onto his chakra signature, keeping high on his tail.

This complicates things _immensely. _Everything she had been thinking – was it wrong? Is he coming back to help with the attack? No. He's heading in the direction of the Hokage Tower which is on the other side of town and he's too late anyway. But why would he return early?

Sakura pauses at the foot of the tree next to the Hokage tower. Itachi is perched on the window sill. It seems as if another three months is going to go to waste but kami she will waste it all her progress if she needs. She scurries up the tree and watches with trembling eyes as Uchiha Itachi jumps passed her and onto the window sill.

"Itachi!"

Even the Hokage is surprised. This can't be good.

And then another voice – "Itachi."

_Danzou's voice._

Itachi jumps in and another sound barrier jumps up. Sakura breaks through it with ease.

"I sensed an intruder Hokage-sama-"

"Are you aware of recent events?" Danzou cuts in quietly. "Today's, events."

Itachi falls silent. "No," he finally says.

"The Uchiha attempted to launch an attack on the civilian sector," Sarutobi says softly.

"That can't be," Itachi says quickly, "I would've known."

"But you _didn't," _Danzou stresses. And then quietly – "You know what must be done."

Sakura freezes, her breath caught in her throat. _No. _It's – it's too early. It's only the 16th, and last time it was on the 26th – but- but- this is what she wanted, right?

No, it isn't what she wants. It isn't what _anyone _wants. But that _doesn't matter. _Because it _has to happen._

The Uchiha had gone too far.

But still – everything is _different _this time around! Shisui is – still alive! That means that Itachi doesn't have the mangekyou. But is he strong enough to- _yes! _He has Madara. But – everything's _changed now!_

"Yes," Itachi says numbly. "But promise me that you'll keep Sasuke safe."

And he sounds _thirteen. _He's _just a boy. _And _Sasuke!_

"I will," Danzou says calmly.

"…of course," Sarutobi says. "Of course."

Itachi bursts out the window but pauses on the tree outside, only a few feet from Sakura. She freezes, heart beating wildly in her chest, looking up in horror at the man who indirectly defined her whole childhood. Then he sighs a heavy, guttural sigh and launches off onto the rooftops.

_It's happening, _Sakura registers numbly. _It's happening!_

Her grip on the branch is tenuous – her grip on _herself _is tenuous. She's done it. It's _happened. _But – but – it feels wrong. It feels like betrayal. As if she's ripped Sasuke apart again – _dear _Sasuke – _her _Sasuke. The Sasuke she fell in love with she's _destroyed _again.

Faint, Sakura falls back, off the tree.

She drops her henge on the way down and lands softly on the soles of her feet. But she sways, as if drunk, as if _dying. _

_Why does it feel this way? _It shouldn't. Roothad trained her to feel no emotion. But she does. She _misses _her teammates. Naruto. Sasuke.

Team 7.

Sakura steels herself. What's happened has happened.

But the least she can do is mitigate the damage. If she can just prevent Sasuke from coming home and seeing Itachi standing over his parents dead bodies – can prevent him from getting mangekyou'd – then maybe, _maybe, _she can justify what she's-

Sakura shakes her head and shoots off, honing in on Sasuke's chakra signature. Their years together make it easy – she can find it in a heartbeat.

She'll need to delay him, plaster on her eight-year-old façade, seem happy and oblivious. He's probably in the compound, or maybe they let the kids out. But she'll have to draw him away from that area of Konoha – maybe Konoha Park? That's a good distance away.

Sakura chews on her lip, willing her emotional façade not to crack. She needs to hold it together. She _must. _

But all she can think is-

_I'm sorry._

* * *

><p><strong>Sasuke<strong>

Sasuke frowns.

His clan had taken all the necessary precautions – no one who wasn't a high-ranking Uchiha knew of the plan, and they'd taken to heart his little snippet about the baths – Itachi hadn't known either. Not that his brother was there during the discussions anyway, doing some stupid C-rank mission. It probably wasn't even a C-rank – just another one of the Hokage's ploys to separate him from the Uchiha. Not that he was there for the discussions either – but at least he knew of their occurrence.

Sasuke scowls, staring up at the Academy building with disgust.

His clan was put on exile too – everyone inside the compound except for the errand boys and little children. And he classified as little children.

Except… he didn't really have anywhere else to go apart from his compound.

It's night now, but exactly what time he isn't sure. Konoha Markets and anywhere around the inner city places are bad news at this time – at least for a boy of his age. The Academy is as secluded as he can get, really. But if anyone threatening _does _stumble on him it's not as if he can't handle them.

Because, well, he's powerful now. Sasuke sits down on the swing, looking up at the waning moon.

He has all these tricks up his sleeves and now that he's so much more _conscious _of the world around him he's reaping the full benefits of clan training. And, like anyone of smart mind would do, he's been training himself in areas he wasn't so good at last time around – it was Shisui, actually, who really pounded that into him. He had been so focused on his speed and all his physical capabilities that he hadn't seen that the thing which let him down most was rash action. He didn't think things through.

Maybe that was why Sakura managed to still beat him in some fights, despite the clear power difference. Sakura is- Sakura was smart. Very smart. He and Naruto – well, they just ambled along after her. On the other hand Naruto-

_Naruto. _He was a whole other story. They were like two sides of the same coin, both brash, powerful to the nth degree. They were constantly striving to be better, the _best, _and only Sakura could mellow them down. Team 7 was wide-spread destruction.

He… sorta misses Team 7.

Sasuke stands up, quickly moving away from the swing. He needs to stop thinking about Team 7, and how that was the swing Naruto always used to-

Dammit.

He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. So many things are happening to him, to his family, what the bloody hell does he care about Team 7-

"Sasuke-kun!"

Oh great.

Sasuke lets out a shaky breath as Sakura binds forwards.

"Sasuke-kun," she coos, "what are you doing out here?"

Sasuke cringes. There's just something that always stabs him when he sees Sakura and Naruto – powerful, dare he say it even _wonderful _people regress into naïve, eight-year-olds who don't _understand-_

Who'll _never _understand.

Sakura, a fangirl again, who 'loves' him because of his pretty face. Naruto, an obnoxious brat who craves attention.

"Hello Sakura," he says softly, too tired to shoo her away.

For a fraction of a second he sees something flicker in her eyes – the same world-weariness, the same tiredness – but it's gone again and Sasuke thinks – _the moonlight is really tripping me up tonight._

"Do you want to go somewhere?" Sakura asks, her voice high and squeaky.

"No," Sasuke deadpans.

"Let's go to Konoha Park!" Sakura suggests, completely ignoring his answer.

"No," Sasuke repeats. Konoha Park is on the other side of town – a good half an hour, maybe more away from his compound. He's not trekking that far this late at night for a girl.

Not for this girl at this age. Maybe… maybe later. But not now. Never now.

"Please Sasuke," she says, and she tugs on his sleeve and makes the most painful expression. Tears seem to be just below the surface and Sasuke begins to freak out because _why is she about to cry he hasn't done anything-_

Then he freezes.

He senses… Itachi.

_Itachi._

Coming back, _sprinting _back, towards – towards the _compound. _What's he doing back so early?

In front of him Sakura is unmoving too, eyes glassy, her large smile frozen on her face.

"I- I-" she chokes. Then her hand lets go of his sleeve and drops to her side.

"I have to go," Sasuke whispers.

"No," Sakura whispers, frantically. "_No. _Don't go – don't go! Sasuke!"

But he needs to do because _kami what is his onii-san doing the gate guards! Where did their chakra signature disappear oh kami it's happening it's happening it's happening-_

"Shushin no jutsu," Sasuke whispers quietly, for once thanking his incredible speed. He moves fast and disappears, a millisecond before Sakura's immobilising jutsu hits the tree behind him.

He's running to the compound now but he can hear them calling in his head – Sakura, Naruto – incessant callings of _Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke _through time and space but his _family – Itachi – what are they doing – Konoha what are they doing-_

Sasuke smells the blood before he sees it.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>I won't leave things hanging, don't worry. Uchiha Massacre will have another chapter which deals with the aftermath. Like many of you predicted, the massacre did happen and needed to happen. Even though the three of them came back, I felt that at that age they couldn't really do anything to stop what was years in making.

Some replies to comments/questions:

**Could you let the characters consider how they tend to act quite selfish in their thoughts? It seems they are very focused on the greater goal, but not on their environment, so could you think about some sort of wake-up call for them, that this really is a world, and not just a scenario they need to work on (curious viewer). **I completely agree with your point! They're quite driven about their perfect future, rather than living life out for fun. This will happen and I've got a good idea where it will happen so rest assured, it's coming :)

**Will Neji be mean towards her? Maybe they can be friends :D (Lonely Athena) **I actually never considered this until you mentioned it, but now I've giving it some thought. Thanks!

**I do kinda want to listen to them stopping for a second, and having a moment to discuss their actions and the repercussions in their head. That would really help showing the motivations of (future) team 7 at the moment (curious viewer). **Very good point, and I will try to put this in somewhere in the future. I just don't want it to sound too forced or OOC.

**Are team 7 ever going to figure out the they have came back together? (thestorymaker2) **Spoilers...

**Would shisui stay alive or would Danzo get both eyes this time (Suzululu4moe) **Spoilers...

**I'm surprised that naruto forgot since the kumo incident was so important to fixing neji. Also with all of naruto's pranking and scroll stealing he should be the best at hiding (Shinen no Hikari) **Very very true. In terms of Neji, Team 7 travelled back from quite far in the future (Fourth Shinobi War ended, _another _one also started and ended), except Naruto has grown quite close with Cloud (Killer B, A), and Neji's death was quite far back, not saying it didn't have a big impact on Naruto. Also, their main goal in coming back was the massacre, so this incident may have faded from his mind a bit, but he remembers it quickly. I fixed up the chapter a bit to make this clearer. In terms of pranking and scroll stealing, I also agree that he is quite good at hiding. However this time he is in a compound full of Hyuuga. And the byakugan is extremely powerful in terms of sensory and locating people. While Naruto is good, he is also only five at the time this takes place and hasn't had the opportunity to improve too much.

Also thanks to everyone that's pointed out mistakes! I try to edit them as well as possible but I'll always miss things so if you find any more please tell me x

On a brighter note, I changed my profile so if any of you want to check it out, that'd be great! I've put up some of my future possible works :) Thanks to everyone who reviewed: **JAIMOL, thestorymaker2, Broken Reveries, Lonely Athena, curious viewer, readerboy7, catxangel, Guest, Suzululu4moe, Magevn, DaManKaliel** and** Shinen no Hikari.** I love hearing your comments and analysis so feel free to keep them coming! And thanks to Broken Reveries for your good luck! I hope you do well in your exams x

Hope you all enjoyed, and leave a comment xx


	7. The Uchiha Massacre - IV

**AN: **So here it is! The final chapter of the massacre arc. Unfortunately I'm not very happy with it - its got heaps of fight scenes and I'm not that good with those. So apologies in advance, but hope you enjoy nonetheless.

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>The Uchiha Massacre - IV<strong>_

* * *

><p><strong>Naruto<strong>

"Naruto-" Kotetsu starts in surprise.

Naruto barely grunts in response, simply rushing past the gate guards and into Konoha. He leaps up into the treetops – there's a special route in the sky for emergencies that will take the ninja straight to the Hokage Tower. And this is _definitely _an emergency. Itachi's already here, no doubt. He had tried to catch up but the fact was that the genjutsu and Itachi's age advantage ran him out.

And there's the worst sinking feeling in his gut that he's _late late late, _like Kakashi but _so much worse._

It's still night but there's a dead atmosphere in Konoha, a painful one, and he's calling out to Sasuke with his mind but it all seems so _hopeless. _

Naruto drops down from the treetops outside the tower. There aren't any ninja about, surprisingly. Usually there's always one or two bustling around, even at this time of the night. But it's all the better for him. Naruto slips in, too frazzled to hide his footsteps and flies up the stairs – stairs he's taken millions of times in his life but none have ever felt this _urgent. _

Naruto barrels through the door, too upset to use the doorknob. It fractures underneath his pressure, giving away to reveal the two occupants inside.

Sarutobi sits at his desk, his head in his hands, completely unreacting to Naruto's entrance. Danzou is staring at him with narrowed eyes.

"S-Sandaime," Naruto utters, too overwhelmed to call the Hokage anything but his title.

Sarutobi looks up and smiles sadly.

"Naruto," he says heavily, as if the world is on his shoulders. Next to him Danzou sweeps up his cloak, eyeing Naruto carefully before picking up the scroll on the desk.

"I'll be leaving now then," he says, bowing his head a fraction at the Hokage before sweeping out of the room.

Naruto trembles, watching him leave with frenzied eyes.

"Well then Naruto," Sarutobi says quietly. "What beings you here at this hour?"

Naruto's head whips around. "I- I-" he stutters before swallowing harshly. He's not sure what to say now that he's finally here. Everything he wanted to ask, everything that had been building up to this moment – he's forgotten. Because _Sasuke poor Sasuke-_

"Where's Itachi?" he blurts out. "I mean I- I- that mission he went on right? The one to Asezuka. I recommended it to him. _I _did. And uh, he said he'd tell me how it went but he uh, he hasn't written to me yet and I- I'm _worried."_

The Hokage eyes him heavily, silently, and Naruto _knows – _he _knows _he's too late that Sasuke is suffering and that years later he's going to _leave _again and chase after his stupid brother _goddammit Itachi._

Why couldn't he have been born earlier? He had this chance – this chance and he _blew it. _Sasuke – _poor Sasuke. _

He needs to get to Sasuke. Maybe he can stop him before he gets there – maybe he's not home yet!

But who's he kidding it's two in the morning he _must _be home.

But he doesn't know! If only he had Sakura's skills and could sense where he was. But he never needed to because-

They were Team 7.

But he has to try.

"I have to go," Naruto says seriously.

Sarutobi sits up straighter and watches him carefully.

Finally, he sighs. "Yes. You do. Goodbye Naruto."

And Naruto winces because he hates that word – _goodbye. _But he grits his teeth and bares it because that's not his first priority right now – no. Sasuke is_._

"Goodbye," he says gutturally.

Then he turns around and rushes out the door, down the stairs, not looking, blindly thinking – _I must find Sasuke-_

Something grabs his arm and jerks him into the bushes nearby. Naruto opens his mouth to scream but then a cloth is muffled over his mouth, drenched in some strange mixture of herbs.

_One of Sakura's blends… _Naruto thinks dimly. _Designed to knock out ninja. He's _done _for._

_No!_

What's he _thinking? _He's forgotten his nindo – a ninja never goes back on his word! He has to fight back so that he can help Sasuke – he can't just stand here not doing anything!

Naruto spins around and kicks blindly, hoping to hit something. His attacker curves back but Naruto manages to clip bone with his foot – he obviously wasn't expecting an attack. The kick manages to get his attacker to loosen his hold just a fraction and Naruto twists away and kicks again, stumbling back.

His attacker doubles over and Naruto takes the opportunity to quickly reach into his pouch and grab some kunai and shuriken. The weapons aren't the best quality – they were nicked from the Academy after all – and Naruto realises with sickening dread that that could very well mean his downfall.

His attacker reorientates himself and looks up and Naruto _freezes. _

His attacker is an _ANBU._

_Impossible._

Naruto staggers back, mind whirling. His opponent is much stronger than he'd anticipated – ANBU never give up. Which means he'll have to neutralise the threat before he can do anything else. But ANBU is strong and he's – he's _five._

_Come on, _Naruto thinks to himself, _what are your options?_

His attacker lunges forward again, hands whirling through seals.

_Dammit. He can't let the ANBU finish whatever jutsu that is. _Naruto rushes forward, hands quickly forming one seal.

"_Kage bunshin no jutsu!"_

Ten clones appear around him, nine of which immediately pounce on the ANBU. It won't stall him for long, but it'll stall him long enough for Naruto to formulate a plan. His run back has tired him so he's not at his strongest. His taijutsu is definitely a no, and his genjutsu even more of a no. Sealing? He's good, but it's useless without ink.

Sage mode is one of his biggest trump cards but he can't reach it now – it requires a strong host body and at eight he'll have it for ten seconds tops before it goes. And there's still the risk of turning into a frog.

Which leaves… his last trump card.

In front of him the ANBU withdraws a blade from his cloak and lunges forward. Naruto darts back, his last remaining clone next to him as both run through a series of seals –

This technique has never failed him.

"Rasengan!"

The ANBU doesn't expect it and Naruto's small stature makes him all the while harder to catch. The rasengan whirls into being and impales the attacker through the stomach and he slumps back. He's not dead – no, an ANBU would take more than that to take down – but he should be incapacitated long enough for Naruto to finally get _Sasuke-_

And then another hand clamps over him and wrenches him back. Naruto twists forward, jerking his attacker's elbow. He stares up at the mask – ANBU as well – but then another pair of arms grab him, and another, and they push him down. He looks around frantically for his other kage bunshin but he's been destroyed – by the other attackers no doubt. Naruto curses. He'd been careless, only thinking there was one attacker. _Crap. _Sakura or even _Sasuke _would have been able to warn him usually.

"Dammit!" one of his attackers hisses. "We underestimated him. Is Hyo okay?"

Naruto twists again but his attacker has a blade pointed straight as his face – the same blade as his first attacker.

Naruto stills, teeth clenched. _Fuckity fuck fuck. _Three attackers – four, including the one he took down. This is a fully fledged squad.

Naruto peers closer at the blade pointed at his face. It's not a usual one – in fact, it looks more like a tip-less tanto.

Naruto stills. ANBU masks, tip-less tantos – Naruto is dealing with Root. Turns out Danzou really did suspect him after all. But how much did he know? He can't prove anything. At least, Naruto hopes. Shit, maybe he should have paid more attention to Sakura when she was teaching him about the law system of Konoha.

"He'll live," the attacker with the blade at his face says, withdrawing it before walking over to the fallen member. "I'll carry him."

Free of the blade, Naruto cranes his head to look up but the last attacker grabs his skull and pushes him down again. A second later, manacles clamp over his hands and ankles.

_Shit._

He tests the manacles but they're strong. Strong enough to hold a jounin. But since they're so powerful they're made for adult limbs. An eight year old's wrists and ankles will allow for a bit more movement. It's not much, but it's all he needs.

"Good for nothing brat," the first voice says – and judging by his tone, the commander. "Always suspicious, looking into things you shouldn't be looking into. That Kyuubi little shit is always up to something."

"Shut up Juu," the second voice says. "You should have learnt by now not to speak during missions."

"I may be new Dajima," the first voice curls. Naruto dreams of punching him in the face. "But I _am_ favoured. You should watch your tongue."

The hand retracts from his skull and Naruto looks up. Juu – the first voice – is cleaning up the scene. Dajima – the second voice – has the injured one hoisted on his back.

"Let's go," he grunts.

The remaining member grabs Naruto by the scruff of his neck and slings him over his back. Naruto takes the opportunity of the movement to dislocate his shoulder, bringing his hands together. It hurts, but Naruto's gone through worse. Luckily, the clang of the manacles disguises the sound.

"We should hurry," Dajima says.

"Yes," Juu agrees.

The three jump up into the foliage and begin running. Considering their direction, they seem to be heading towards the outskirts of Konoha. Naruto grits his teeth – he's being carried further and further away from Sasuke. What are they be doing there anyway? On the night of the massacre? Whatever it is though it definitely doesn't bode well and he needs to get to Sasuke.

He begins to shift his hands, turning them so that they face each other, ready for seals. His attackers have begun to slow, reaching an isolated clearing. This _does not look good, _and Naruto's not going to stay to see what interrogation plans Danzou has in store for him.

It's now or never.

"Doton: Doryudan," he hisses, his fingers flying through the signs of ram, horse and dragon.

A dragon head emerges from the ground and encases him and the ANBU. It leaves a small air bubble around him but wraps itself around the ANBU in a cocoon, breaking his grasp on Naruto. Naruto takes the opportunity of the ANBU's distraction to flip through more seals – snake – ram – dog – rat – snake – tiger.

His arm transforms into rock, breaking free of the manacles. He flips through more seals, lightning fast – "Futon: Renkudon."

He takes a deep breath and blows, breaking through the rock. It splinters and the shards fly out, carried along by his wind bullets. They scatter, straight out onto the awaiting three members.

Naruto glances back quickly – the one carrying him is still encased in the rock. One is down from his rasengan. All he needs to take care of now are the two left – Dajima and Juu.

Two ANBU against an eight year old kid.

This isn't looking fair to Naruto, which means… time to pull the big guns.

Naruto bends down and picks up the kunai pack of the ANBU he disabled.

"I knew you were suspicious," Juu hisses. "You – an eight year old – should _not _be able to do that."

Then, in an unspoken signal, he and Dajima lunge in unison.

Naruto smiles.

His body may be small and unable to sustain sage mode for long, but he can sustain it _enough. _

His eyes burn yellow, rimmed with orange, and he raises two kunai, blocking the incoming attacks.

Dajima and Juu slam into him, making him skid back but Naruto jumps up. Their old momentum swings them forward and Naruto takes the fraction of the second it takes them to recover to spin through another jutsu – _"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"_

Another clone appears, equal in strength, and jumps towards Dajima. Naruto turns to face Juu.

"Confident you'll beat me?" Naruto says.

"Yes," Juu replies, and though Naruto can't see his face, he knows that he is smiling.

"And _that,_" Naruto says, "is what has won me many battles."

And then he lunges, much faster than Juu expects and slices with his kunai. Juu parries at the last moment but it's not enough – while he has saved his heart Naruto still catches his stomach. Juu hisses and reaches for his blade but Naruto doesn't give him any time.

"Kaze no Yaiba," Naruto whispers, a blade of wind forming at his fingertips, so powerful that it's invisible to the naked eye. He brushes his hand to Juu's chest and it ruptures, so violently and forcefully that his body snaps back.

The blood splatters out and Naruto jerks back – but it's not enough. The blood cakes itself over his body.

Behind him, Dajima's unconscious drops to the ground.

Dajima's _unconscious _body.

Dajima, Hyo, the other one – they were all _incapacitated. _But Juu is – he killed Juu. Not his clones, _he _did. _Naruto _did.

Naruto steps back shakily. _What has he done? _This is by far not his first kill but it's the first in _this _life. He begins to tremble and his fingernails have blood underneath but why doesn't he _feel _anything? Has he become apathetic to it all?

Naruto steps back from the carnage. Slowly, measuredly.

The emptiness scares him.

_Why is it so empty?_

Because… because _Sasuke. _

Because before _Sasuke_ was his moral compass, his other side. Whatever Sasuke did was too violent, too unnecessary, too wrong.

But now that there's no Sasuke what is he anymore?

_No no no he can't think like this. _

_This is not – this is not – this is not _who he is.

But… _who is he? _

_Sasuke would know. Sakura would know._

_He can't think like this._

Naruto turns around and _runs. _

* * *

><p><strong>Sasuke<strong>

Sasuke walks slowly away from his compound, the blood of the gate guards staining the soles of his shoes.

He didn't have to walk inside to know what had happened.

The smell of blood was pungent – so pungent he wasn't sure how he hadn't managed to smell it the last time around. It was one of the downsides of being more conscious this time around. While he knew how to forward himself in his training, make himself strong, his increased mental capabilities had also meant that he had understood, and _loved _these people more.

Elder Mako, always so stern usually, had a soft spot for little Sasuke. He had heard his uncles whispering about it bemusedly once.

His okaa-san, always looking out for him and Itachi. His otou-san, strict, stern, but he loved people in his own way.

Shisui-

Sasuke freezes. The loss of his footsteps leave the cold Konoha night in harsh silence.

Danzou… What did Danzou covet most? _Shisui's eyes. _And Danzou would _not let the massacre happen if he didn't have Shisui's eyes._

But Shisui was alive and well when the exiling was happening! Which means that either he's inside, and _dead, _or-

Or he's with Danzou.

Sasuke smiles sardonically.

He's hit the bottom now. The only way he can go is _up_.

Sure, he hasn't been able to find Danzou, but then again in his past life he had only seen and fought the man once or twice. But Shisui – _Shisui! _He had been spending _days, weeks, months, years with that guy! _He's in tune to Shisui. He can _find Shisui._

And if he can find Shisui, he can find Danzou.

Sasuke begins to chuckle quietly, darkly. His family has been taken _once again _kami knows _how _and they're going to pay Danzou is going to _pay. _He did not come back to live through the pain _once again Itachi Itachi Itachi-_

_Why did they make him do this?_

Sasuke flexes his hand, feeling the lightning at his fingertips. If he finds Danzou tonight, he can't guarantee he'll be able to walk through Konoha a free ninja. Naruto and Sakura…

_Well they aren't here._

Sasuke takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, thinking back to Sakura's signature jutsus. He can't detect identities yet, but he can sort of get a feel for the power level of the signature. Kami knows its saved his and Naruto's butts enough times, those days Sakura wasn't with them.

Sasuke reaches out and stills. He feels two very powerful ones together, out in a forest on the border of Konoha.

It _must _be Danzou and Shisui. Because it's the night of the massacre, and the Hokage has thus relieved all active ninja so that none might sense the massacre, the terror. If two very powerful signatures are active, are _fighting, _then it's Danzou.

_Stealing his cousin's eyes. _

Sasuke shunshin's through Konoha, his mind whirling, _dying – how much of this can he take before it's too much? Chasing revenge, then chasing the truth._

Sasuke stops a few ways away. The night air is cold, the light is weak. A lifetime ago the massacre had occurred on the full moon. This time the moon is dying.

He looks down at the floor. Danzou's personal bodyguard – four of them – are incapacitated, on the floor. One is dead, his chest spilling out, mingling with the forest floor. An unexpected advantage – without Danzou's personal Root guard, he'll be easier to take care of. He won't question it – hnot anything which helps him. This is his chance. To destroy the man who has evaded him all this time.

One man shakes but Sasuke moves passed him. They are only distractions. Danzou is his main goal.

He listens carefully but hears nothing. He closes his eyes again and concentrates, searching for the chakra signatures. They've moved now, and by the looks of it the fight has gone more intense.

Sasuke shunshin's again – if he's quick maybe Shisui will be okay. Maybe- _maybe someone won't leave him this time around maybe he won't be _alone alone alone-

Sasuke _runs, _through the forest, blindly searching for the two-

And then he chokes.

In front of him, Danzou pulls out the right eye of Uchiha Shisui.

His mentor, his trainer, his brother's best friend and _his _too.

Shisui looks up and his eyes widen in surprise. He reaches out with a hand to Sasuke, to stop him or call for him – but in his momentary lapse Danzou sticks a kunai between his ribs.

Uchiha Shisui dies, eyes on Sasuke.

Danzou looks up and Sasuke screams and his eyes begin to _burn._

There's pain – _so much pain and burning and _fire _and he's dying but he's not because he's being _reborn _but amidst all this he can hear Danzou – _'you shouldn't be here you shouldn't be here' – _but his _eyes _what are they doing why is he going through this again he's gone through it once already once should be enough kami why do you do this you take everything you took _Naruto _and _Sakura _and now you're taking my family too-_

Sasuke's eyes snap open.

Danzou has his hand over his eye, adjusting to the new addition, but when he looks at Sasuke he stumbles back.

"Impossible," he hisses. "_How?"_

Sasuke staggers forward.

"You killed him."

"Yes you're eight and _this form- Hyo! Dajima! Juu-"_

"_Amaterasu," _Sasuke whispers, and black flames envelop Danzou. "_Die."_

Danzou curls back, burning, but he reaches out through the flames nonetheless to unwrap the bandages on his arms. Sasuke's left eye widens and he can feel the strain, the blood beginning to pool at his tear ducts.

But one of Danzou's sharingan closes and Amaterasu disappears – _Izanagi._

"That _bastard," _Sasuke hisses. "You're going to do this? You're going to do this _again?"_

Danzou stares at him steadily. "You. How did you get the mangekyou?"

"You can't be doing this again," Sasuke says, half-delirious. "You have ten minutes left to live, one for each bastard eye on your arm. You're going to try to take me down – _again! – _in the ten minutes you have?"

Danzou eyes him steadily before rushing forward.

"Futon: Shinkugyoku!"

Sasuke narrows his eyes. That was the _exact same _jutsu Danzou had peppered him with a lifetime ago, after his Amaterasu failed. Except last time he used his summoning jutsu, and this time around he didn't have one.

The wind bullets fly towards him, but he thinks – at least his body is smaller this time, easier to dodge.

Except they're in a clearing – there's nowhere to go.

"Susano'o," he whispers, and a skeletal rib cage forms around his body. "_Die!" _he screams again and a hand reaches out and grabs Danzou, crushing him.

And then – _fucking Izanagi – _Danzou appears again.

"You can't win," Sasuke repeats, "Every time you use Izanagi you lose a majority of your chakra. You've just fought Shisui. You will _die. _Hell, you're dying anyway. Why take me down with you?"

"Tell me," Danzou says steadily, "_How did you get your sharingan."_

Sasuke smiles sardonically. "Don't ask stupid questions."

Danzou grabs some shuriken and blows a wind jutsu onto them, throwing the disks straight at Sasuke.

"Do not try to kill me," Sasuke hisses, and he swipes the disks away with his susano'o and reaches out, clasping Danzou in its grip.

"Tell me," Danzou wheezes out, but Sasuke crushes him with his Susano'o.

"You cannot hold that form forever," Danzou says from behind him, saved by Izanagi again.

"This jutsu is based on strong emotion. You've just killed my family. I have _plenty _of strong emotions."

"But you are eight," Danzou says quietly, "You are young."

Sasuke grits his teeth. He's right, but all he needs to do is _die in the next fucking ten minutes. _

"Chidori," he hisses, and his sharingan blares. He runs forward, chidori blazing almost half the size of his small body and he impales Danzou through the stomach, pinning him against the tree.

"What were you doing here with Shisui?" Sasuke sneers, "Tying up loose ends? Because that's all we are to you, right?"

"Uchiha Sasuke," Danzou says quietly, still pinned to the tree. "I know I will die."

"_Yes."_

"But… perhaps you may be saved. You have not yet turned against Konoha, only me."

"Do _not_ attempt to-"

"I am not attempting anything," Danzou says, "Just listen to me."

Sasuke smiles, half-crazed. "What could you _possibly _have to say?"

"Leave Konoha alone," Danzou says. "I do not know how you have come into such power, but leave Konoha alone."

"You have nothing to give me! You think I could _possibly _consider-"

_Sasuke-kun! _He hears in his mind. Sakura, innocent Sakura, talking to him just a few hours ago. By the swing, the Academy swing Naruto used to sit on, staring dejectedly, jealously at him. The two are weak now, and small, fragile. What would they do without him? Kami knows Wave would kill them both.

No. He can't think like that.

"Konoha will burn," Sasuke says steadily. "It _will."_

"At least," Danzou says quietly, "Not today?"

Sasuke resists the urge to scream in frustration. Why is this man so infuriating? He almost reminds him of Naruto, or Sakura.

"You deserve to die. Painfully."

"And I will. Amaterasu will finish me."

Sasuke snarls. "You better hope so."

Then he withdraws his arm from Danzou's stomach, quickly flipping through seals. Konoha will burn. But not… today. Naruto and Sakura deserve a chance, at least, after what he did a lifetime ago.

"I hope you know," Sasuke says, "that Konoha is spared today of _no reason on your behalf_."

"You wouldn't have been able to do anything anyway," Danzou says quietly. "My fight with you has tired you. My mission is accomplished."

Sasuke snarls. "Doton: Yomi Numa." He jumps back to the border of the clearing, the floor beneath Danzou turning into liquid mud.

"An A-rank earth release," Danzou says quietly as the mud swallows him up slowly. "Who are you exactly? Where did you get the sharingan?"

Sasuke watches as he sinks lower and lower into the mud, unanswering.

"Humour me," Danzou sighs, "I'm dying anyway. Tell me – just then you activated your mangekyou. But that means that you had the sharingan before. How did you get it?"

Sasuke stares down at the man who started it all.

"I had two friends, a long time ago," he finally says. "I realised very young this life that they – the ones I knew, at least – were no longer with me. And it had been… my fault. I… killed them."

"They must have been good friends," Danzou says quietly.

Sasuke takes a deep, shaky breath, raising one hand up to his bleeding eye.

"They were the best," he says, and then he turns and runs.

* * *

><p><strong>Sakura<strong>

Sakura looks down at the inconspicuous note on her door step.

It must've been left there recently – it hadn't been there when she left the house which can only mean one thing. Now that the massacre has been carried out, Danzou is tying up loose ends. And she is one of them.

_Haruno Sakura, _the note reads, _the Honourable Konoha Elder Shimura Danzou requests your presence immediately. _

Below, a set of numbers are scratched – coordinates to a clearing in Konoha Forest. She has been there before, on past endeavours with Root.

Sakura sighs, looking up at the waning moon. It seems as if Danzou has somehow traced her. He works quick – quicker than she had expected. But she'll have to go, it seems. Sakura flips the note over-

_Haruno Nanami. Haruno Tsubasa. _

Following her parents' names are their occupations, their work addresses and their citizenship numbers.

It's a not-so-subtle threat.

But she won't be coming unprepared. The clearing is ideal in the fact that it is secluded, and knowing Danzou and his group of personal bodyguards they've probably placed a barrier around the area. Not that there'll be many people actively sensing tonight – with the massacre the Hokage's probably shut down all active ninja.

But she's quite sure about why she's been taken there. It's an interrogation.

Sakura grabs her own customised Hyuuga weapons pack and straps it underneath her dress. Then she arms herself with various poisons and antidotes that she's been brewing – they're nothing strong at all seeing as the only ingredients she can get are the moment are basic – but anything will help.

Swallowing harshly Sakura jumps away, making sure the door is locked on her sleeping parents. It won't do much against what Danzou might send but it gives her a shaky peace of mind for the time being.

Sakura jumps up onto the rooftops, following the all-too-familiar path to the clearing. All of Konoha is in a dreadful light tonight. Even though she can't see or smell the blood she knows that it's there, and it's the _knowing _which makes shivers crawl up her spine, shudders of fear and disgust at the death – the death that she caused but the death which was _inevitable. _

Sakura shakes her head, continuing towards her end.

Danzou is expecting her no doubt, with this current time's bodyguards in tow. Maybe he has a Yamanaka in his throes and he'll mindwalk her. But Ino's cousin Fu didn't join until later she was sure, or if he was he isn't strong enough to be a bodyguard. But just in case, Inner Sakura is ready to attack.

Sakura begins to smell blood, the metallic tinge wafting up her nose. The Uchiha-

_No, _Sakura realises suddenly, _the Uchiha are on the other side of town. _

_This blood is coming from somewhere else._

_This blood is coming from the clearing._

Immediately Sakura quickens her pace, shunshin'ing through the streets, hurrying towards the clearing in the forest. What has happened? Danzou is there, but if there's blood…

Sakura skids to a halt. In front of her lie the bodies of four ANBU Root, signified by their white masks and tip-less tanto.

Four of them. This close to the clearing. Danzou's bodyguards?

Cautiously, Sakura suppresses her chakra, moving silently onwards towards the clearing. She closes her eyes and listens, feels. She doesn't hear anything aside from the usual forest activity but she senses a rapidly weakening chakra signal – _Danzou. _Her heart begins to beat faster and faster – _what's happened? Why- how-? _Determinedly she leaps up onto the branches and continues on towards the clearing, mind whirling but strangely _blank. _

She skids to a halt at the edge of the clearing. In the middle, Danzou lies buried in mud. Next to him, the dead body of Uchiha Shisui lies stagnant.

_They fought, _Sakura realises, _and Danzou won._

She peers closer. _No. _He hasn't won. The top of his arm is peeking out from the mud and she sees the sharingan implanted in his arms, closed eyes.

He used Izanagi.

Danzou is about to _die._

Sakura jumps down from the tree, dropping her chakra cloak. Danzou looks up slowly as she approaches.

"I'm dying," he says, "There's nothing you can do to help."

Sakura's finger twitches. "To… help? How do you know I come with friendly intentions?"

"You are connected to Root," Danzou says, "The coding would otherwise be impossible. A relative, perhaps, of a current member. Or a spy who went rogue, disguised as a little civilian girl. But I suppose the latter is untrue, considering you came after the threat to your parents."

"Why did you kill him?" Sakura asks quietly, eyes turning towards Shisui. "He didn't need to die."

"But his eyes would eventually be beneficial."

"But he _didn't_ _need to die! _And now look – his eyes are useless anyway! You're _dying!"_

"Of Amaterasu, yes. Unfortunately. But the Uchiha are coming down with me. Shisui's body next to mine… they'll assume he killed me – an honourable Konoha Council member. The Uchiha are stained. The Council will keep a close eye on the remaining boy – the Uchiha will never be free."

"You didn't have to do that," Sakura says quietly, shaking her head.

"It was necessary-"

"_No it wasn't."_

Sakura steps back, one step, then two.

"I see now," she says shakily, eyes widening. "The massacre – it had to happen. It _did, _I _knew _that. But... the reason it had to happen was because – _you!_ You isolated the Uchiha first! If you had never done that in the first place – this would _never have had to happen! _You can say all you want about saving Konoha but you – _you wanted the eyes. _All this time – _it was the eyes."_

"The Uchiha were a flight risk-"

"_My best friend is an Uchiha! _And I will _not_ let you drag them down with you."

Danzou narrows his eyes. "What are you doing girl – who are you-"

Sakura's hands whirl through seals – tiger – ox – monkey – rabbit – ram – boar –

"Don't you _dare-" _Danzou hisses.

– ox – horse – monkey – tiger – dog – tiger –

"That's an A-rank water jutsu how do you _know-"_

– snake – tiger – ox – monkey – rabbit – _bird._

"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu," Sakura whispers.

Then she blows and the water pours from her mouth into the sky, rising up and up and up like a waterfall, like Zabuza's did all those lifetimes ago. And she brings it down, crashing, cascading onto the floor with such force the ground gives way and splinters.

When the water flows away, the remnants of the clearing resemble a natural disaster. Shisui's body is gone. As are Danzou's bodyguards.

"Your plan will never come to fruition," Sakura says quietly. Danzou is soaked but he remains. Shisui's mud jutsu is very strong, it seems. "Shisui suicided by jumping into the waterfall. Now his body is gone the same way. No one will ever use it again."

"How could you do this-" Danzou begins, but then he begins to sag and Sakura watches, for her, for Naruto, for _Sasuke, _as his last sharingan – _Shisui's_ sharingan, closes.

His Izanagi is completed.

Then his body bursts into black flames again, Shisui's Amaterasu eating and burning away at his flesh. Danzou closes his eyes and succumbs to the flames, body slowly burning to dust.

And Sakura watches. Watches with a careful, medical eye. Makes sure that Shisui's eye is devoured by the flame, never to be used, mistreated, ever again.

And Danzou dies, his last thoughts about two boys and a girl who knew too much.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>So... all that was totally not meant to happen. The three of them were kind of just supposed to suck it up and get over it. But as I wrote it I realised that if this actually were to happen none of them would 'get over it', so hopefully their joint (unknowing, of course) disposal of Danzou was cathartic for them.

Anyway, now that the Uchiha Massacre arc is finished, we will be time skipping again! Usually I have a bit of an idea of how my next few chapters are going to play out but, well, right now I have absolutely no idea. I've been considering a few options - the destruction of Root means Konoha is in chaos so they try that fast-tracking genin program they used in the war so that they can get more hands on deck. Or, Konoha gets their shit together and everything proceeds on as normal. Tell me what you think? Any other ideas?

Thanks to **pff, Shinen no Hikari, Suzululu4moe **and **Zoleth **for your reviews! Everything said is duly considered and taken in to make every chapter (hopefully) better. Next chapter will be up as soon as I can manage, but it might take a while as I'm still trying to think of a plot and, you know... CHRISTMAS!

Love you all! Please leave a review and let me know what you think xx


	8. The Scroll of Sealing

**AN: **Hi guys! Sorry this one's a bit late. Things have been hectic here in Sydney and I had a bit of writer's block. Hope you guys still enjoy this though :) Things should go a lot more regularly now that we won't have any more time skips.

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>The Scroll of Sealing<strong>_

* * *

><p><strong>Sakura<strong>

"No way," Sakura deadpans.

Hinata flushes. "What do you mean? He's really smart!"

Sakura takes a deep breath in, then out. "Are you _sure?"_

Hinata pouts. "He may not look it, but he _really is!"_

Sakura sighs, a wry smile on her face. It turns out Hinata is a lot more perceptive than she'd thought.

"Yes," she says, "he really is." She sneaks a glance over to where Shikamaru is sleeping, his head in his hands. "How did you meet him anyway?"

"A Hyuuga function. All the important clans had to come."

"Mm," Sakura murmurs in response, her eyes drifting to the left of Shikamaru where Sasuke lies, similarly sleeping. The two boys seem to be able to block out the loud sounds of Chouji crunching chips to the right and the clanging of Iruka-sensei's shuriken demonstration. Most of the kids are enraptured but she and Hinata have seen this enough times from the Hyuuga elders.

She glances back again. Sasuke raises his head and yawns, his eyes gliding to Iruka-sensei before his head drops back into his arms. He doesn't look tired to Sakura's trained eye but he's never been a model student anyway. He'd always been one of those people who could pay absolutely no attention in class and still get full marks. As for her, everything she had achieved had taken hours of sweating through books.

"And Sasuke," Hinata whispers. "You _like _him."

Sakura chokes on her spit, hacking violently. Iruka pauses in his lecture to glance back at her.

"Sakura?" he asks.

"Fine," she spits out.

Iruka turns back and places the weapons on the table, beginning to write the theory on the board.

"_No," _she hisses to Hinata.

"I- I hope so," the heiress says quietly. "He's been a bit… off. Ever since the massacre you know? And Uchiha are bad news."

Sakura nods. She's been fed with the same Uchiha-hate as Hinata, driven by the Hyuuga elders. It's been quite terrible stuff but half of it is true nonetheless. Hinata has a good reason to dislike him.

"Let's stay away from him," Sakura agrees. "He's bad news."

"Very bad news," Hinata nods, her blue hair bobbing.

Sakura turns resolutely away from Sasuke, trying to block her mind off him. He's definitely better this time around – probably because Danzou kicked the bucket and they replaced him with Shikaku – a very wise decision in Sakura's point of view. She never knew the man personally, aside from healing him a few times, but his efforts in the Fourth Shinobi War convinced her that he would do well as a Konoha Councillor.

It turned out well for Sasuke anyway. Probably because his clan is so close to the Yamanaka he had a very in-depth understanding of the human psyche, he received emotional support that he never got last time around. After the massacre he'd spent quite a lot of time with Iruka and Inoichi, and as a consequence also got closer to Shikamaru as well. And it's paid off – personality wise he's a lot more amicable to be around now, even if it's still a sharp downhill from the days before the massacre. She thinks perhaps that she's the only one who appreciates how significantly more normal he is this time around – everyone still thinks he's extremely traumatised – and he is – but it's a lot better compared to last time.

"Don't forget," Iruka-sensei calls, clapping loudly to get the class's attention, "Your graduation tests are this afternoon so make sure you all go home and have a big lunch so you can come back in two hours, ready and refreshed."

"Yes Iruka-sensei!" the class choruses.

"Sasuke? Shikamaru? Did you hear me?" Iruka-sensei repeats.

Both their heads lift up.

"Yes Iruka-sensei," they murmur.

"Good," he says, snapping his textbook shut. "You are free to go."

Immediately the whole class rises, grabbing their books and shoving them in their bags. Hinata shoots her a small smile.

"Wanna come over?"

"I can't," Sakura sighs. "Okaa-san wants me back home."

"That sucks," Hinata says. "Everyone's been wondering why you haven't been visiting lately."

Her contract with Hinata had expired two years ago but the two had remained staunch friends. Even if Hinata still doesn't know that Sakura was her secret bodyguard, the elders still liked to keep in touch every so often, out of habit if nothing else.

"Okaa-san really wants me to do well in the exams," Sakura explains. "So she's made me her 'lucky lunch'. Not that I think it'll help much."

Lies. She's extremely confident she can pass and her parents don't even know about the exams. But while Sasuke looks a bit better this time around, Naruto's in the dust. He's never – _never _been able to produce a normal clone technique, not even in his past life.

Mizuki is still looking at him strangely though, and Sakura is pretty confident that he's still got the 'steal the Scroll of Sealing' plan. All seems to be well and on track except…

She's worried.

Naruto seems off. He's twitchy, shaky. He and Sasuke have seemed off ever since the massacre and she _doesn't know why. _She knows that Sasuke has changed this time around, but that makes sense considering how the political climate of Konoha has changed. But Naruto is _off, _and she _doesn't know if he was like this the last time around. _

Before she had always been enamoured with Sasuke and the only real time she noticed Naruto was when he stole her seat next to Sasuke – something which has yet to happen this time around – and when he was sitting at the swings by himself after failing the exam. She _doesn't remember _if he was like this last time around and it _kills _her.

Because it seems like he's trying too hard now – the pranks, everything. Defacing the Hokage's monument happens at least once a week and the higher ups are getting twitchy as well. Everyone's getting twitchy as well.

Last time he was lucky because none of the shinobi the Hokage sent out found him – Iruka did. But that – all of that – was _chance! _

Mizuki is going to repeat his actions but she's scared. The shinobi the Hokage sent out after Naruto were regular chuunin and jounin – if one of them finds Naruto first, with all the annoyance and hatred that's brewing, she's scared that something might happen to him. Given the prejudice already present against his prisoner one of them could kill him and no one would miss him. Except Naruto at this age is _not _equipped to deal with such threats.

Which means that unfortunately, in true Root fashion, Sakura must eliminate the threat.

"Alright then, I'll head off first," Hinata says.

Sakura nods and smiles. Hinata slings her bag over her shoulder and takes off with the rest of the Academy hoard.

"Don't forget to study!" Iruka-sensei shouts over the ruckus.

Sakura quickly slips out of the classroom and shunshin's towards the Hokage's mansion where the Scroll of Sealing is kept. Naruto managed to do it last time, kami knows how, but everyone was on his tail in an instant – everyone _knew _it was him.

And she knows it's because of the sensory ninja stationed outside. If she can just… muddle him up a bit…

He's probably jounin level, Sakura expects. She'd tried to find out the rosters but without the Hyuuga connections things like this have been harder and harder to discover. The Hyuuga are much less willing to stick their necks out for someone who is no longer benefiting the clan.

Sakura pauses outside the mansion and climbs up the tree, slowly and careful to not make a sound. She has a pill in her belt – one that will muddle up the senses for six to twelve hours. She'd made it last night from different herbs she'd scavenged throughout her years and hopefully it will stay the sensory ninja enough to hide Naruto's scent.

Sakura peeks through the leaves of the tree at the mansion. It's an impressive fort – one of Konoha's tallest buildings with a bright red 'Fire' kanji painted at the top of the round ceiling. It contains many forbidden scrolls, all protected by seals and traps of some sort or another. Naruto made it through once, she's sure he can do it again. His inanimate threats she's not worried about – it's the animate ones she has to deal with.

Sakura genjutsu's her appearance quickly, morphing herself so that she's taller, a grown kunoichi with black hair and blue eyes. It's one of her prettiest aliases and she's adjusted it so that her age is similar to the sensory ninja's. Adjusting her fake headband across her forehead for a final touch Sakura jumps over to the standard treetop routes taken by Konoha ninja.

She drops down in front of the sensory ninja, smiling sheepishly.

"Hey! Sorry to bother you, but have you seen Aoi-chan?"

The sensory ninja pauses, turning around before looking Sakura up and down. "Who?"

"Oh!" Sakura says awkwardly, forcing a blush up to her cheeks. "Um brown hair, green eyes, kind of tall, really thin? Chuunin."

Opposite her, the ninja runs a hand through his hair as he thinks. She takes his moment of distraction to reach into her belt and crush the pill, smearing the powder across her fingertips.

"No, sorry," the ninja says with an apologetic smile.

Sakura groans. "No worries. Thanks anyway." Her eyes slide over to the other ninja's.

"I'm Nanami," she says, holding out her hand.

"Tsubasa," he says, grasping her hand firmly.

Sakura smiles, making sure the powder on her fingertips is completely smeared and absorbed by his skin.

"If I see you again we should have coffee."

Tsubasa blushes. "U-um sure."

Sakura sends him one last smile before walking away, making sure her gait is as casual as possible. The poison should be absorbed in around a minute, and then he'll be useless. This time around, Naruto will be safe.

Sakura pauses, just out of sight.

The Scroll of Sealing is currently unguarded, technically, and will be for the next six to twelve hours.

Is it safe?

But more importantly, can… can she afford to take a look?

No, no. That's bad. Wrong.

But… but there must be so much _knowledge _in there.

Maybe… she can. Just to make sure there aren't any more traps that could get Naruto. Yeah.

Sakura leaps into the trees and changes her henge again, this time reverting back to her twelve year old body except with black hair and black eyes – features best for sneaking. She's also camouflaged her clothes – after all, bright red dresses aren't the best for activities such as this. But she'll need to be quick.

The sensory ninja has only lost his ability to _sense _but she knows that he or some other ninja will be doing regular patrols. How Naruto got passed those last time, she has no idea. But he's not her main concern right now.

Well, he is, but, well-

Sakura shakes her head, ridding herself of thoughts. She sneaks up into the trees and circles the building, looking for a viable window. It's a relatively hot day so she's sure at least one window will be open, especially considering how careless Konoha chuunin on guard duty are.

Now that she thinks about it, the Hokage's mansion is horrendously guarded. Why couldn't Mizuki just get the scroll himself? _Naruto, _at _twelve, _could do it.

She won't question her luck though. Sakura slides forward, muffling her chakra before slipping into the window.

Immediately she's hit with a blast of cold air – the building is well insulated, always at prime temperature. The exact location of the Scroll of Sealing she doesn't know, but hell if Naruto could find it, again at _twelve, _she sure as hell can.

Sakura scans the rooms, looking for chakra signatures. There are ninja patrols around, just as she'd expected, but they're all average chuunin and should be pretty easy to avoid.

Sakura darts through the hallways, feeling extremely anticlimactic. The chuunin aren't even bothering to check their surroundings and the scroll is in the third room she checks. No wonder Naruto could do it. She checks the surroundings again - coast clear - and slips into the room.

The Scroll itself is in a glass container, wired with what looks to be extremely amateurish, or at least rushed, traps. She disarms them easily - a wire removed here and there - and lifts the container, still feeling extremely anticlimactic.

It's only once she opens the Scroll that she understands why it's so horrendously guarded - all of the jutsu are completely unusable. Even if one did steal the Scroll there would be pretty much nothing they could perform. All the techniques required either insane amounts of chakra, some specific ninja tool, or a kekkai genkai - most usually Hashirama's wood release.

Plus, the scroll is _enormous._

She's not even a third through when she hears the footsteps of the patrols again. This whole expedition seemed to be a complete _waste-_

Sakura pauses and eyes the technique written in front of her.

_Yin Healing Wound Destruction – In'yu Shometsu._

She knows this. It's Kabuto's technique. It allowed him to predict the target of an attack and send medical chakra there, thus preventing him from taking any damage when the attack hit.

It's one which cannot be performed without perfect chakra control. This is the technique which made Kabuto so invaluable to Orochimaru as it allowed him to keep his test subjects alive much longer than feasible. The technique which inspired her own shishou, Senju Tsunade, to increase survival rates for various surgeries. The technique which allowed Kabuto to survive Naruto's deadly rasengan.

Sakura eyes the page carefully, willing her brain to remember every aspect before she rolls up the Scroll again, replacing the glass container quickly before slipping out of the room, a fraction of a second before the patrols round the room again.

* * *

><p><strong>Naruto<strong>

Iruka pauses, eyeing Naruto apologetically before saying – "Clone jutsu."

Naruto sighs. This is one thing he won't have to pretend he's bad at. Sasuke had walked out of the graduation test looking extremely satisfied, no doubt topping the class again. Sakura, whom he'd also had an eye on, had been mediocre by the looks of it. If he simply stuffs up his exam, Team 7 will happen again. So he'd toned down all of the usual exam components, making sure he barely passes each. Except with the clone jutsu, there'll be no pretending necessary. For jutsus like the clone jutsu - stuff like the leaf-twirling exercise – the chakra control necessary meant that he would never, ever be able to perform them. He couldn't even do it at his peak a lifetime ago.

"Clone jutsu," Naruto says half-heartedly, his hands forming the seal. His clone flops, then dissipates into smoke.

Mizuki's lips curl up into a smile.

"I'm sorry Naruto," Iruka says apologetically.

Naruto shrugs despondently, making sure to will the tears to come. Mizuki needs to think him vulnerable enough to manipulate.

"Well, it's over now. I'm sorry but you've failed," Mizuki says, faux-sympathetically. "Why don't you go wait outside for your parents- I mean, why don't you go wait outside? We'll dismiss you in a few minutes and you can head home."

"Sure," Naruto sighs, hate simmering under the surface. He hasn't been able to look at Mizuki the same way this time around, knowing what he did – or will do. And he's sure that the slip about the parents wasn't a slip – it was another carefully placed knife to put him down further.

Naruto pauses just outside the door. The Academy testing room had been safe territory – familiar territory. But once he's outside he's back _there _again. Back where he's scared that he'll… _snap._

Sakura had talked to him about this, many years back. Hyuuga Hanabi was in the process of being evaluated for a position as a jounin instructor after being off the field since the Fifth War. She passed all the physical tests, naturally, but Sakura had been worried about the emotional side. Hanabi had seemed fine on the outside but a mindwalk by Ino had confirmed that the death of Neji had hit her hard, and that that along with the horrors of war had scarred the young Hyuuga. She had a disease called PTSD – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – and Sakura was scared that if she was put back into combat situation there might be something there – a trigger, of sorts – which could make her flip.

It can go two ways, she had said. Either she could enter a state of regression, much like Tsunade had done after Dan's death, or she could go the other way – _Sasuke's _way.

And Naruto feared – _fears _that now he is going _Sasuke's way._

Swallowing harshly he pushes open the door and steps outside. His lack of a hitai-ite isn't as prominent to him this time around but his classmate's stares are all the same. It doesn't help that he was right after Sasuke – Uchiha, then Uzumaki – but Naruto makes his way to the all-too-familiar swing and sits down, eyeing his classmates in front.

Sasuke seems… happy. Well, as happy as he can be. Perhaps content would be a better way to describe it. On the other hand Sakura seems elated. Knowing his crush at this age, she was book smart but physically she was far behind. It had been her physical results which had pulled her down to the middle-ranking kunoichi. Otherwise she would have given Ino a good run for her money.

Sasuke seems to be prime for taking out the top spot of their graduating class – last time he had been beaten by Ino because his teamwork skills were so low. But he's improved much this time around so there's no real competition for the Uchiha heir. Even though Naruto knows he could probably beat his best friend's twelve-year-old ass to the ground.

Naruto shifts, feeling a presence behind him. _Mizuki. _

A hand falls onto his shoulder and Naruto represses the urge to wince.

"Naruto," Mizuki-sensei says gently. "Do you want to talk about it?"

_No._

"Yeah. Thanks Mizuki-sensei."

Mizuki holds out a hand. "Come on, let's go talk somewhere private. I reckon I know something that might help."

Naruto forces his expression into one of hopefulness and admiration. "Really?"

Mizuki smiles friendlily. "_Really. _Come on."

Naruto grasps his hand and Mizuki pulls him up, a comforting smile on his face.

"Let's go up to the rooftops. The sunset's always beautiful up there, and it might cheer you up. I know when I'm having trouble the sunset always helps."

Damn. Mizuki is a smooth son of a bitch.

"Thanks sensei," Naruto says, following the chuunin away from the rest of the Academy graduates and up into the rooftops.

"Hey, listen Naruto," Mizuki says, taking a seat on the roof. Naruto plops down next to him, careful that his mask doesn't break.

"Yeah?"

"I felt real bad for you, you know? So I did some digging around. Turns out, there's another way you can graduate. It's outdated but definitely still valid."

Naruto whizzes around, looking up at him excitedly. "_Really_?"

"Yep," Mizuki says brightly, popping the 'p' at the end. "Listen here." He waves Naruto forward and the blond scoots over.

"You know the Hokage Mansion right?"

"Round, fire kanji at the top?"

"That's it," Mizuki nods. "There's a scroll inside – it's called the Scroll of Sealing. If you manage to get it and learn a jutsu from it, you pass!"

"Wow!" Naruto says. "_Really?"_

"Really really," Mizuki-sensei says, an amused smile on his face.

Naruto bites down on the hateful urge to snarl. Mizuki is a good manipulator, but preying on the innocent – at least, who he thinks is innocent – is unacceptable. And on top of that betraying Iruka? This man was the first real concrete antagonist of Naruto's life, and though he paled in comparison to the likes of Orochimaru and Madara, the first always leaves a lasting impression.

"I'll do it!" Naruto exclaims, portraying his usual exuberant exterior.

For a second Mizuki's smile turns sinister but he clamps down on it in an instant and the friendly smile is back.

"Wonderful. I'm proud of you Naruto."

"Thanks sensei," Naruto smiles.

He leaps off the rooftops and heads towards the Hokage mansion, Mizuki's eyes baring into his back. The actual stealing he's not worried about – he completed it once, he can do it again. The Scroll itself isn't that well-guarded anyway, considering that all the techniques require kekkai genkai, immense chakra supplies, perfect chakra control, or even all three. Few can really harness the scroll – the First and his father being a select few.

Last time a few smoke bombs and his usual prank paraphernalia had done the job but he's certain that this time he doesn't need any – his memory has always been good, except maybe in regards to Shino's name – and he remembers the placing of all the traps in vivid detail. After all, this had been the first monumental event of his life.

Naruto halts to a stop outside the mansion. The patrols seem to be the same from what he can see – one sensory ninja posted outside, no doubt chuunin patrols inside.

Simple stuff, really.

Naruto jumps down onto the ground and backtracks around the building. Windows have been left open – careless, but better for him so he's not complaining. The chuunin are also easy to avoid – their footsteps are loud and easy to detect, especially with his enhanced senses. He can pretty much pinpoint exactly where they are, no need of Sakura's fancy chakra detecting jutsu.

That is an advantage of stealing this scroll, he supposes. After all, the Hokage can post chuunin to guard it without worrying about them taking a peek and learning forbidden jutsu – they wouldn't be able to perform it anyway. Speaking of such things, could _Mizuki _even perform some of that jutsu? After all, he didn't seem very powerful last time around if a twelve-year-old him could take him down with kage bunshin. And Naruto knows that the twelve-year-old him from back then is far worse off than he is now.

The chuunin patrols are heading his way. He can either make a dash straight for the scroll and cut it close or he can wait for them to pass before going in.

Naruto purses his lips – the sensory ninja must already be on him. He knows that Mizuki will go tell Iruka but if one of the ninja the Hokage sends out gets to him first he'll have to incapacitate them. That's not practical and… he doesn't know if he's ready yet.

Naruto shakes his head. He _has _to be ready. This is _monumental- _and there's no time to waste. He's going to have to make a dash for it.

Naruto rushes forward, chakra dancing at the soles of his feet, quickening his speed. He slips into the room of the Scroll of Sealing and ducks behind a bookshelf. A few moments later the chuunin patrol arrives, peaks in the door, and leaves.

Naruto waits a few more seconds before slipping back into view, scampering towards the scroll. This time the process is a lot cleaner – he disables the traps first so that no explosions go off before removing the scroll, moving to attach it to his back.

Then he pauses. Outside in the clearing, he'll only have time to look through the first few pages – the kage bunshin. But this time his run was quicker. He's got a few extra moments. Maybe he can learn something else from this scroll.

Quickly and quietly, he places the scroll back onto the table and opens it. He rolls it open, further and further, passed all these jutsus he'll never be able to do without Hashirama's wood jutsu, Sakura's perfect control, or various other requirements completely bizarre.

But then he stops.

_Adamantine Sealing Chains – Kongo Fusa._

It feels as if his heart has stopped.

This is his mother's jutsu. One only completable with Uzumaki chakra. Her infamous technique which moulded the her chakra into chains, chains which she used both offensively and defensively – chains strong enough to break through Wood Release techniques.

Chains strong enough to hold Kurama.

Sure, Kurama will not cooperate now, but he will eventually. In the meantime however, his chakra is another story.

This will bring his strength back, this will lift him up to a level not what he was in his past life – not without Sage mode – but _close._

Naruto smiles, attaching the scroll to his back just like he did many, many years ago.

A wave of nostalgia hits him hard. This had been the action which had spiralled the rest of his life. Just like the massacre had been the catalyst for Sasuke, and Sasuke's betrayal the catalyst for Sakura, this – _this, _the knowledge of the kyuubi, the kage bunshin – this is what catapulted _him. _

A rush of _something _fills his belly – something not pleasant, but not unpleasant either. Just something… filling. As if this is what he's been waiting to do.

Naruto can't help the smile which curves up. He's felt disjointed, lost, since the massacre. But now, he feels as if he has a purpose again. He needs to stop looking back, and start looking forward – _forward into the future._

_Into Team 7._

* * *

><p><strong>Sasuke<strong>

Sasuke clears his throat awkwardly.

Hinata jumps, whirling around in surprise.

"Sasuke! W-What are you doing here?"

Sasuke shifts awkwardly, eyeing the Hyuuga compound sign. The gate guards have been tailing him ever since he entered, looking for the heiress.

"I was wondering if you could uh, help me with something?"

Hinata raises her eyebrows before quickly masking her features, remembering that she is still in her compound and is expected to act with dignity.

"With what?" she asks cautiously. "Nothing illegal."

"Definitely," Sasuke says. Even though he's been acting friendlier and less 'homicidally', as Sakura and Naruto used to put it, talking to girls is still something he had never done much, not in this life or the last.

"It's just… I need to find Naruto."

This time Hinata can't help the surprised look on her face. "Really? _Why?"_

Sasuke shrugs. "Um. You know. Boy stuff." Inwardly, he cringes. That was a _terrible _answer. But luckily Hinata doesn't seem to mind, or care for that matter.

She switches on her byakugan, scanning around Konoha. While the heiress had never been the strongest at this age, especially not compared to her genius cousin or little sister, Hinata had always had unparalleled range in her byakugan and that is what he needs. He'd tried finding Naruto himself but in the maze of forests around Konoha but it had been hard and there were already ninja around, looking for the Scroll of Sealing. It would've been bad if they'd stumbled across him – after spending all that effort delicately crafting himself as a normal functioning member of society, albeit one shaken from the massacre, it would be extremely annoying to have the suspicion of being connected to the theft of the Scroll of Sealing placed upon him.

But he needs to make sure that everything which happened last time around happens this time around. That way he can manipulate events to his liking – as Sakura had once said in one of her brief phases where she was obsessed with time travel, keeping the past predictable makes it pliable.

"The forest just behind the Administrations building, looks like," Hinata finally says. "Around a hundred metres in."

Sasuke nods, forcing his lips up into a smile. "Thanks Hinata."

She clears her throat awkwardly and looks away. "No problem."

Sasuke pauses for a second, unsure of how he should take his leave before groaning and just going for it, turning around and walking back outside.

The Hyuuga gate guards continue to tail him until he's a good hundred metres away from the compound. His connections with the Nara clan, with Shikaku the new Council member, has helped to ease relations between him and the other clans. It's an advantage that turned out much better than he'd anticipated – all the clans had been so antagonistic towards the Uchiha leading up to the massacre that he hadn't noticed how much different his life would be now that they are sympathetic to him.

He's been seen as the victim in all of this, innocent and unknowing but willing to be good to Konoha. That's made them much more compromising towards him – the Hyuuga had let him approach their heiress while a lifetime ago they would've turned him away at the gate.

This new friendliness has also made it easier for him to move around without being watched – the council trusts him because Shikaku does. And Shikaku does because the Yamanaka do – a mindwalk by Inoichi had supposedly cleared him of any craziness.

Too bad he'd taken a leaf from Inner Sakura and completely fooled him. Inoichi wasn't careful or too probing, probably because he thought that at eight Sasuke couldn't do jack shit. And it was true, last time around at least. But after being in the prison cells of at least three different villages Sasuke has learnt to guard his mind.

Sasuke waits another minute for the gate guards to completely disappear. He's vowed to be extra careful around their Hyuuga – their creepy eyes have always unnerved him, even if he _knows _that the sharingan triumphs over the byakugan any day. It doesn't help that Naruto used to be close with the heiress and he'd always had a nagging feeling that whenever the blonde was suspicious of him he sent his girlfriend to keep an eye on him.

Sasuke glances up at the sky. The moon is up and he's pretty sure that this is the time that Naruto's caught by Iruka. The Hyuuga gate guards should be long gone by now so he's safe to move.

Sasuke shoots chakra to his feet and runs, scampering up a tree before tearing through the treetops towards the area Hinata had pointed out, resolutely ignoring the administrations building as he passes it. The place doesn't carry good memories but he's managed to keep a staunch façade whenever he's around the place in public. It brings back memories – bad memories – and thoughts like _he should have been stronger maybe then Shisui wouldn't have died and Itachi wouldn't have left-_

Sasuke shakes his head violently, slowing down as he senses three chakra signatures close by.

Naruto, Iruka and Mizuki. It looks like the fight's already under way.

Sasuke stills, taking in the environment around him. The forests are always a hard place to stay inconspicuous in with all the leaves and twigs scattered about – a small move may rustle a whole branch or snap a twig. It's usually not a problem with foreign ninja as they're not as in tune to the forest and its sounds. But with Konoha ninja it's another story – living so long in the village hidden by the leaves means that all its ninja, even its civilians, knows the sounds of the forest, the chirping of the insects, the small tell-tale sounds of silence which call trouble.

Cautiously, Sasuke makes his way closer to the scene. He's done more inconspicuous shit these twelve years than he did in his whole lifetime last time. And he hasn't even gotten better! His body's just wired for straight up offensive, like Naruto's. Only Sakura could ever pull stuff like this off every time. Effortlessly too.

"…I'm not going to let an idiot like you get the scroll." Iruka.

"You're the idiot! Naruto's the same as _me." _The wonderful Mizuki-sensei.

"Same as you?"

"Anything is possible with that scroll. There's no way Naruto, the monster fox, won't use its powers."

A rush of anger surges up Sasuke's chest, filling his vision with red before he clamps down on it harshly, his fingernails digging into the palm of his hands.

"Yeah you're right."

Sasuke stiffens. But Iruka-sensei – didn't he support Naruto?

"-but Naruto is different. He's an excellent student that I recognise. He's hardworking, earnest, clumsy, even though no one recognises him. He knows the pain of others. He's not a monster fox. He's Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha!"

Sasuke feels a surge of pride. Iruka has no idea how true those words will be in the future. It is only Konoha – _Konoha which clamps down on power._

"What an idiot. Iruka, I said I would kill you later but you know what? I take that back. Die now!"

Sasuke's eyes widen and he risks a glance, poking his head out around his tree. Mizuki is charging, a large shuriken in his hands – heading straight for a collapsed Iruka.

In a flash his hands reach for his kunai pouch, ready to deflect the blow-

But Naruto is quicker. The blonde appears in – _is that a yellow flash? – _and Mizuki skids back. Sasuke's eyes fly to Naruto – and is he _crying? _Naruto – the strong Naruto he'd known – is crying.

"Damn you," Mizuki groans, jolting Sasuke back to reality. Immediately he scolds himself. What had he been thinking, about to intervene like that?

"Don't lay a finger on Iruka-sensei," Naruto growls, and for a second Sasuke thinks he sees yami Naruto. "I'll kill you if you do."

"Talk while you can," Mizuki scoffs, "I'd finish a kid like you in a second."

Naruto simply smiles.

Mizuki snarls, growing more crazed in the silence. "Why don't you try then? You damned monster fox-"

"Kage bunshin no jutsu," Naruto says quietly, and something crawls up Sasuke's chest, blossoming like a flower, like Sakura but _more-_

Sasuke jumps back away, just before thousands of Naruto clones storm the forest.

"What-" Mizuki says, stumbling back.

Sasuke smiles.

"Why don't you…" Naruto says quietly. "…come and 'get me'?"

Sasuke risks peering over further but he can't see Naruto's face – only Mizuki's. And his sensei lifts up his head to the sky and screams.

Sasuke ducks back behind his tree as the thousands of Naruto clones pounce. Mizuki's screams escalate in volume, his chakra fluctuates unevenly, unhealthily. Sasuke begins to detect more chakra signatures heading in their direction, alerted by the screams and the chakra pulses.

He jumps down from his tree and streaks a few distances away, making sure to cloak his chakra. It wouldn't be good to be caught.

Eventually the Hokage's ninja gather at the scene. Once he's sure that they're all too absorbed by what's just happened he peeks out again, surveying the scene. Iruka is debriefing some of the ninja on what happened while others are checking Mizuki. He looks really badly beaten up - knowing Naruto's fighting style first hand, it can't have been a pretty fight.

The Scroll of Sealing is picked up by a chuunin and strapped to his back. Sasuke zones in on the sight.

In his peripheral vision, Iruka pulls Naruto aside for a private talk. In the meantime the chuunin breaks away from the throng, heading back towards the Hokage's mansion to put the scroll back.

Sasuke stills.

This is… an opportunity.

Sasuke slips away from the fight scene just Iruka hands Naruto his hitai-ite. The chuunin is by himself, luckily, and he looks to be an Inuzuka considering the hound next to him.

Inuzuka are easy enough to take down, Sasuke thinks, remembering Kiba. He tails him, just out of smelling distance until they're both a good distance from the fight scene. He's approaching the main village and Sasuke knows that now is the time to move in.

"Uchiha!" the Inuzuka says in surprise, his nose in the air.

Sasuke drops down from the tree next to him. The Inuzuka are really a strong clan – they, the Hyuuga and the Akimichi are one of the reasons there're so few spies in Konoha. But the Uchiha will always triumph.

Sasuke's eyes spin into the sharingan and both the owner and the dog drop to the ground. The genjutsu will be momentary and hopefully he can use one of Sakura's easier jutsu to revive them.

He quickly detaches the scroll from the Inuzuka's back and unrolls it. He should have a bit of time before the others arrive, but better to be safe than sorry.

Immediately he frowns as he scans the scroll. For the most part it's _useless_. Most of the techniques are undoable, unless you have some crazy combination of perfect chakra control, Hashirama's wood release and a ninja tool. He continues unravelling the scroll but nothing much comes up. It does make sense though, now that he thinks about it – Uchiha secrets are so well-guarded that they'd never appear in a scroll like this.

Almost near the end however, one technique catches his eye.

_Five Elements Seal – Gogyo Fuin_

This is Orochimaru's technique - a seal which used the five elements – metal, wood, water, fire and earth – instead of the five chakra elements of earth, water, fire, wind and lightning. Orochimaru had used it to block or disturb his target's chakra flow. Sometimes, it made the target unconscious, unable to fight for some time. But Sasuke remembers it because it was used on _Naruto._

The odd-numbered seal had created an imbalance on Naruto's even numbered seal, preventing him from utilising the nine-tail's chakra, or even controlling his own.

Sasuke's sharingan spins, memorising the information before rolling up the scroll. The hound is beginning to stir and so is the Inuzuka. It seems they heal fast and he won't have to use Sakura's technique.

Carefully Sasuke replaces the scroll back on the back of the Inuzuka. He shouldn't remember anything if his genjutsu worked. He's never been good at them – not like Itachi – but the Inuzuka are horrible at such things so he should be alright.

Sasuke takes off, back to his new home next to the Nara compound.

The kyuubi was an advantage of the blonde's in his past life, one which when mixed with other techniques like the sage mode made him deadly. But with this seal on hand, he can even the playing field. If Naruto ever decides to bring out his furry friend, well...

Sasuke is ready.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>So what do you think? That's Naruto's first episode done - now we're moving into actual depicted events, and with no time skips everything should flow better.

Great big thanks to **Broken Reveries, InARealPickle, Guest, konohaaaa, peachycupcake, Shinen no Hikari **and **DaManKaliel **for your reviews! I love hearing all of your comments!

Hope you guys are still enjoying this, and make sure to send me a review/message if you have any ideas or comments x


	9. Team 7 - I

**AN: **Hope you all had a very merry christmas! This chapter brings together Team 7 - finally! So yeah, I'm quite excited :)

Also,** Shinen no Hikari **mentioned that Sakura seemed to be portrayed as a better ninja than the other two, while Sasuke and Naruto were sort of diminished. Thanks a lot for pointing this out - I think one reason is because out of Team 7, Sakura is actually the only main character I've written with so I'm a bit unconsciously biased towards her. I also don't have as big of an understanding of the other two as I do her, and I think that's why I've forgotten some of Naruto and Sasuke's strong points. Forgive me x

However I've also planned for Team 7 to 'come into themselves' at different stages – Sakura was the earliest, as I feel that as the smartest she would have been able to sort of get her shit together the fastest, especially as she wasn't terribly scarred by this past like Naruto and Sasuke were. As you will see however, at the end of this chapter, Naruto's turn is next. He'll start reconnecting with his father's jutsu next chapter and hopefully that will develop well :)

Well, without further ado, read and enjoy!

* * *

><p><em><span><strong>Team 7 - I<strong>_

* * *

><p><strong>Sakura<strong>

Sakura pauses, eyeing her wardrobe with a critical stare.

It's been divided into two sections. In the first section she has her usual garb – pink and red dresses, nice girly clothes she bought with her mum - stuff like that. But behind that she'd carved an indent into her wall, covered by a panel. In that section she has the clothes that the Hyuuga had supplied her – lightweight, camouflaged, expensive materials – stuff fit for a bodyguard.

So the question is – does she want to keep her persona, or does she want to start being practical?

Sakura purses her lips. According to her memory, today should only be team selections and meeting their jounin instructor. Technically there should be no fighting, nothing which would require her to change her persona.

So red dress it is.

Except… she had really wanted to define her second chance life as doing something for the better. As going into it blazing, ready to take on the world. She wanted to give a statement, to say – _look at me. I'm no longer weak._

"Stop," she scolds herself quickly. She can't give up the advantage of the known for a simple self-egotistic exercise.

She grabs the dress and slips it on. Sure, she's pretty and cute, but… it's not _her_. It's not _Root Commander Haruno-sama, _one of the New Sannin, the Girl who Levels Mountains_. _And her _hair. _It's long, and impractical, and goodness knows how Neji does it because she _can't._

She's not cutting it though – that would be worse than changing her ninja wear. But perhaps she can compromise.

Sakura grabs her kunai and cuts off a few inches before pulling her hair up into a bun, making the shorter length unnoticeable.

"Sakura-chan!" her mother calls from downstairs, "Breakfast's ready!"

"I'm not having any!" Sakura calls back as she straps her kunai pouch to her leg, along with her vial of poisons. She checks her reflection one last time in the mirror. She looks naïve and innocent, just like her persona, but it just isn't _her_. At least the bun makes her look more mature – a small condolence, supposedly.

Sakura makes her way down the stairs. Her mother shoots her a stern look.

"I know you want to diet for your Sasuke-kun Sakura, but today's a big day for you. Maybe you should have a bit?"

Sakura smiles softly. "It's alright okaa-san. I'll have a big lunch at Hinata-chan's okay?"

"Alright," her mother sighs. "At least I know the Hyuuga always overfeed you. They seem to love you Sakura – it's like I have a little ninja on my hands already!"

Sakura grins. "You betcha!"

Her mother laughs, patting her on the head before ushering her out the door. "On you go then Sakura. Have fun!"

"Bye 'kaa-san!" Sakura calls. She can't help the smile that lights her face as she walks away. It's been awhile since her parents have said 'have fun'. The many years she had lived previously, the 'have fun' had long morphed into 'stay safe'.

But not now. These years have been restful for the most part, and for once she wants to strive for her mother's call of 'have fun'.

She reaches the Yamanaka flower shop just as the blonde exits.

"Good morning Sakura," Ino nods.

Immediately she's hit by a sense of deja-vu. While she and Ino had never formed a friendship this time around they had still both been civil to each other, mutual in their dislike of Ami.

"Good morning Ino," Sakura says back politely.

The blonde begins to walk towards the Academy and a sad feeling begins to crawl up Sakura's chest. While she and Hinata have a great friendship, it was one achieved at the sacrifice of all those years with Ino. While Sakura remembers their unique bond of love and rivalry, Ino will never carry these memories anymore. They're just… _hers._

Sakura shakes her head and follows the blonde on the path towards the Academy. Today is the day of Team Selections and even though she already knows her team, her heart is beating a million times a minute.

She had been carrying on with her own life, Naruto with his and Sasuke with his but _this – _this is the first time they'll be reunited. Well, united in Sasuke and Naruto's eyes. The two probably aren't happy with that.

But even though Sasuke killed her and Naruto watched it happen she can't help the giggle which escapes her. Because her whole life has been defined by this team – _Team 7 – _and it's happening. It's happening!

The Academy looms above her. In front of her, Ino opens the door.

"Sasuke-kun!" the blonde squeals immediately.

Sakura pokes her head in the door. The seat next to Sasuke is this time curiously empty. But it makes sense, she supposes – after all, what's the chance of that incident happening again? – but it still leaves a strange feeling of emptiness in her chest.

"Good morning Sasuke-kun!" Ino squeals, quickly plopping herself down into the seat next to him. Sasuke lifts his head from his arms and his gaze drifts away from Ino, right at her.

Sakura clamps down on the feeling of terror which rushes up her spine, willing herself to meet his gaze straight on. His eyes are black, like the abyss of death, and it's been a long time since she's seen them so clear, untainted by his dojutsu.

"Sakura!" Hinata calls, "Over here!"

Sakura breaks her gaze from Sasuke, forcing down the blush about to rise up. Hinata is waving her over from the seat in front of Shikamaru and Sasuke. Sakura smiles – her best friend's crush on the Nara is really, _really _adorable.

"Hey Hinata!" she says, plopping down next to the Hyuuga. But she can still feel the gaze of Sasuke boring into her head.

"You've changed your hair," Hinata says. "It looks nice."

"Thanks," Sakura echoes. Of course. That was why Sasuke was staring – she changed her hair. What had she been thinking?

Behind them, Ino squeals again. Sakura winces – had she been that annoying as a kid? Now she might actually understand why Sasuke was constantly calling her annoying. Being in the same team as someone like Ino? She probably couldn't stand it either. It's a miracle that Naruto even liked her with someone like Hinata looking at him. Except... the heiress isn't this time around. And this time Naruto isn't even here yet. Why is he late? Well, he's not _really – _he still has a few minutes – but the blonde she knew at this age was always enthusiastic, arriving early for important events such as this.

"This is so troublesome," she hears Shikamaru groan from behind.

"At least we'll be together, right Shikamaru?" Chouji grins.

"Yeah," Shikamaru replies. "But Sasuke'll be a loner."

"Tch."

Sakura rolls her eyes. Typical Sasuke.

"I wonder who he'll get…" Chouji mumbles.

"Not Ino at least," the Uchiha mutters under his breath.

"What?" Ino says loudly. "I didn't hear you Sasuke!"

"Oh yeah," Chouji says, ignoring the blonde. "She's with us."

The door opens and immediately Sakura looks over, assaulted by the familiar feel of Naruto's chakra. There's something strange about it… something which reeks of Kurama. But Naruto looks normal – sheepishly rubbing his hand on the back of his head, scuttling to a seat in the front row. His chakra supply also feels smaller – had he been training? But what could have taken up so much chakra?

"Of course," Sakura mutters. The kage bunshin – how had she forgotten?

"Naruto passed," Shikamaru murmurs from behind. "He has a headband."

"Really?" Chouji says.

"Of course," Sasuke mutters, a strange tone in his voice.

"He'll be in your team then," Shikamaru observes. Sasuke falls silent.

"How come?" Chouji asks.

"The top ranking genin is always put with the lowest ranking, unless there're special circumstances like our Ino-Shika-Cho."

"What about the kunoichi?" Chouji asks. Sakura digs her fingernails into her table.

"Middle ranking," Shikamaru says smoothly. "From results I'm guessing Ami?"

"Sakura," Sasuke breathes.

Sakura digs her fingernails further into the table, creating harsh indents.

"Good morning class!" Iruka says loudly, jolting her out of her reverie.

"I'm sure you're all very excited to know your team allocations, but remember to remain quiet…"

Sakura takes a quick, hallowing breath as Iruka continues the rules. In front of her, Naruto looks as if he's breathing deeply, chest rising and falling. He's looking down at his arms, back hunched, and Sakura just wants to reach out and touch him and let him know that it's alright – it's all going to be alright no matter what Sasuke does-

Behind her the Uchiha is starkly silent – she can't even hear his breath. But his chakra is troubled and she can feel the dark pull of his stare, mutating and cruel.

"Team 1. Akida Noru, Sarui Dokaku, Chodu Ami. Team 2. Reena Karuri, Saede Tomu…"

Sakura wrenches her fingernails away from the table, interlocking her hands as she stares down at her palms, willing her heartbeat to steady. It's slamming against her ribcage so loud that she's sure the whole class can hear.

"…you alright Sakura-chan?" Hinata murmurs. "You seem on edge."

She is. She's on the edge of discovery, of rebirth. She's on the edge of _Team 7._

"I'm fine," Sakura says quietly, letting out a thin breath.

"Team 6. Eguchi Nobara, Miyamoto Kunihiko, Tsushima Yoshiko. Team 7. Uzumaki Naruto. Haruno Sakura. Uchiha Sasuke. Team 8. Hinata Hyuuga, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino…"

"So close," Hinata whispers, "We could have been together." But Sakura's mind is already elsewhere.

She feels calm, tranquil, as if she's transcended time into nirvana. Naruto swivels back in his chair and gives her a heart wrenching smile. Sakura grins back, heart fluttering like a butterfly. She turns back and Sasuke sits, lounging back on his chair with his face towards the sky, a smirk on his face.

Sakura smiles.

This is _Team 7_.

* * *

><p><strong>Sasuke<strong>

Iruka signals towards the door and a group of jounin instructors pour in, Kakashi absent as expected. They call out for their teams and around them the class begins to flow away.

"See you later mate," Shikamaru mutters.

"Have fun," Sasuke says softly quietly. _Before you can't anymore._

Shikamaru and Chouji grab their bags and leave him, dragging a reluctant Ino away. Soon the only people left are his team, along with a few others with late instructors. But they'll be gone soon.

Sasuke leans back, looking up at the ceiling. His heart is dancing a symphony just under his chest and for the first time he feels as light as a feather, as if he can just take to the sky and fly away and be free. There's no Madara, no Konoha, nothing except Team 7.

But… that was the old Team 7. This time, Naruto and Sakura aren't _his _Naruto and Sakura. They're just… imitations. Fakes. Puppets.

Then Sakura's face pops up in front of his.

"Hello Sasuke-san," she says meekly, holding out a hand. "I'm Sakura."

His eyes drop down to her hand, palm outstretched. It's not smooth like he had expected – instead, there are scars and her skin is rough from kunai grips. It looks strangely like his old Sakura and when he looks up her hair is all pulled back and he can almost see the same hairstyle obscured behind a field medic's signature white hat.

"Hello," he says, almost as if in a trance. His hand reaches out and grasps hers tightly. For a twelve-year-old girl she gives firm handshakes.

And then Naruto pops up next to her.

"Hey Uchiha," he says, in that unique way of his which manages to be both humiliating and degrading but full of warmth and love at the same time. "You know me right? I'm Uzumaki Naruto! Future Hokage and your number one rival! You know – number one – cause I'm pretty sure you've got heaps."

Sasuke can't help the smile which begins to curve up. The blonde has no idea how true those words will turn out to be.

"Uchiha Sasuke," he introduces, schooling his expression into that of a smirk. He grasps Naruto's hand firmly, giving it his strongest handshake. For a second the blonde's grin turns feral and his eyes glint.

Around them, the remaining genin have already disappeared.

"Well look at us," Naruto grins. "We're Team 7."

His eyes are glinting mischievously, smile crooked at one end, displaying his white teeth. Sakura throws her head back and laughs, happily, freely. And Sasuke can't help but smile too.

This is different from last time, Sasuke thinks, but maybe things are looking up.

"Wanna bet on how long it takes our instructor to get here?" Sakura grins, pulling out a few yen from her pocket.

Naruto raises his eyebrows. "You're into gambling Sakura? I mean- Sakura-chan?"

Sakura smiles wistfully. "A very special person taught me how. Now you guys in?"

Naruto shrugs. "Sure. I'm betting two hours."

"Not for our first meeting," Sasuke says firmly. "One hour."

Sakura's grin turns devilish. "Forty-one minutes."

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. "That exact?"

"I'm very positive," Sakura grins.

"Damn," Naruto sighs, plopping down into the chair next to him. "Now you're making me doubt myself."

"As if you don't have enough ego already," Sasuke mutters.

Naruto snorts. "Says _you._"

"_Boys,_" Sakura sighs, and instinctively Sasuke leans back – that word had always been followed by a punch in his past life.

There's a moment of silence in which both he and Naruto eye Sakura warily, and she seems to twitch.

Then Sakura laughs awkwardly. "I mean just… don't start a fight guys."

"We've had enough of those," Naruto mutters quietly under his breath.

Sasuke takes a deep breath, scooting back in his chair. He's becoming weak. He'd slipped too easily back into the familiar banter of Team 7. It doesn't help that both his team mates are much more tolerable this time around, for some reason or the other, and he doesn't feel the need to bash both of their skulls in in Sakura's famous style.

"So…" Naruto says awkwardly in the ensuing silence. "How much longer do we have?"

"If I'm correct-" Sakura says, and they all know that she probably is, "-then we've got thirty-five more minutes left."

Sasuke swallows harshly, turning around so that he's facing the door instead of his two teammates. But then Sakura plops herself up onto his desk, invading his view.

"Hey Sasuke-kun – I can call you that right? – how were your holidays? You seem awfully close with Shikamaru-san."

"Hn," Sasuke grunts, resolutely trying to ignore his teammate. But Sakura has always been persistent.

"You know, Hinata's got a crush on Shikamaru."

"What?" Naruto squawks, pushing himself onto Sasuke's desk as well. "That's- she _does?"_

"Aren't you breaking some girl code…?" Sasuke says quietly.

"But – but – Hinata's too sweet for a lazy person like Shikamaru!"

Sakura rolls her eyes. "He's really smart Naruto – uh, Naruto-san."

"I _know. _I mean, he doesn't look it but I'm sure he is."

"He is," Sasuke says resolutely.

"Oh Sasuke-kun, you know everything!" Sakura simpers, but there's something dangerous underlying her tone, a faint patronising sarcasm. Sasuke narrows his eyes.

"Hey," Naruto says quickly, scooting over so that he's between Sakura and Sasuke. "Do you want to hear about my awesome graduation exam?"

"If we say no will you listen?" Sasuke sighs.

"Well it turns out Mizuki-sensei is not who he seems," Naruto begins, launching into his story. Sasuke sighs and leans back – he's heard this same story enough times already. Really. And he was there to witness most of it anyway, so it's not as if there isn't something he doesn't know.

Sakura seems to be doing her best to be polite, nodding at the appropriate intervals, but even she seems to be tired of this story already. Sasuke settles back into his chair and closes his eyes. Sleep has always been a good escape for him.

"…and then, well, you know. I may have overestimated by powers a bit cause he screamed heaps and the ninja all came-"

"What?" Sakura says in surprise. "The ninja came? But last time-"

Sasuke's snap open, eyeing Sakura carefully.

"Last time what?"

Sakura flushes but it disappears almost immediately. "Nothing," she says casually. "Go on Naruto-kun?"

Naruto is staring at her carefully too but he continues nonetheless. "Um, well, Iruka-sensei gave me his headband and said that since I could do the kage bunshin, it was a form of clone jutsu so I passed!"

"That's wonderful!" Sakura says enthusiastically, but she looks a bit shaky. Sasuke narrows his eyes, observing his two teammates carefully.

"Yeah," Naruto responds just as enthusiastically, but there's something different about the blonde. He's lacking that stupidity that annoyed Sasuke so much last time around and his eyes seem keener, sharper. Always observing, taking in everything like a sponge.

Sasuke shakes his head. Maybe the blonde was always like this but he just hadn't noticed. After all, last time around at this age he _was_ slightly pathetic. Especially compared to geniuses like Itachi, Neji or even Shikamaru. Sure, he was a better fighter, but the Nara's smarts are something he should strive to achieve. Their team used to succeed on their ingenuity – Sakura's carefully laid plans mixed with Naruto's spontaneity meant that he was often left picking up the pieces and putting them back together. Not that they'd have it any other way.

But that was back then.

"What did you do yesterday Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asks politely. "Hinata mentioned that the Nara were having a small celebration for Shikamaru's success. Did you attend?"

Sakura seems really diplomatic. Had she always been so careful and formal with her words? She reminds him a bit of the politicians, always careful with their words and polite – false as well, most of the time.

"No, I didn't. I was otherwise… preoccupied."

"Big words you guys are using," Naruto says carefully. Sasuke's eyes slide over to the blonde. So he had noticed too – Naruto seems to be much more perceptive this time around.

There's a moment of strained silence before Sakura blurts out – "Sensei's coming!"

Sasuke furrows his eyebrows. He can't sense anything. And judging by Naruto's befuddled expression, the blonde hasn't either.

"Are you sure?" Naruto asks.

"I mean- yeah," Sakura says quickly. "It's just I've got a knack for sensing stuff like that."

A… knack. Sure, it wasn't Sasuke's forte but he's pretty good – definitely better than an Academy kid at least, especially with his future knowledge. But Sakura is still… better.

"I'd say that it's more than a knack," Sasuke says quietly. That's when Kakashi's chakra signature filters into his range. A few seconds later, he sees realisation dawn on Naruto's face too.

"You're good," he says cautiously to Sakura. "Have you considered options relating to chakra control like… medical ninjutsu?"

Sakura eyes him quizzically. "How do you know about medical ninjutsu? The Uchiha don't have any scrolls on- I mean, I've never heard of an Uchiha medic nin."

Sasuke sighs. He's just trying to steer her onto the path of success but she's making it much more difficult. Except… she makes a valid point. There haven't been any Uchiha medic nin – in their past life Sakura had dragged him and Naruto to the Uchiha compound to see if she could scavenge any medical jutsu which might be hidden in their archives – and there'd been none.

"Well," Naruto says, glancing up at the clock, "That was only thirty five minutes late – or sixteen minutes since we started the bet. We're all wrong."

Sakura frowns, brow furrowed. His teammate had always hated being wrong.

A few moments later Kakashi's chakra signature enters the Academy building.

"I've got an idea!" Naruto says quickly.

"It's not going to work," Sasuke says out of obligation.

But Naruto just grins. "I know it will."

"Do you want to start with a bad first impression?"

"How do you know it's going to be a bad impression?" Naruto counters.

Sasuke scowls.

"Aw," Naruto coos. "Come on. Just let me do it. For memory's sake."

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. So there was a reason for Naruto's pointless pranks – who knew there were actually memories attached to them? Actually, now that he thinks about it, had the blonde's mother been a prankster?

Sasuke sighs. "Do what you want."

Naruto grins and bounds over and places an eraser on top of the door.

"I… can't believe this is happening," Sasuke sighs.

"I know right," Sakura groans.

Naruto scoots back to his seat just as Kakashi opens the door. The eraser falls and hits him right on the head.

Kakashi eyes the three genin blankly before saying – "My first impression is… I hate you."

"Told you," Sasuke mutters, but Naruto's grin never falters.

"This is perfect," Naruto says.

"And to think I had high hopes for this team," Sakura sighs.

Kakashi eyes the three of them lazily.

"When you're done… bickering… meet me up at the rooftop."

"Idiots," Sakura grumbles. "The both of you."

She stalks over to the door, holding it open before eyeing the two. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

Sasuke sighs, pushing his chair back and sauntering over to her. Naruto pops off his desk and follows him through the door.

"Thanks Sakura," Naruto says.

Sakura just rolls her eyes. "The two of you. Always so slow and irresponsible. It's a wonder you guys were ever- ever passed."

"Psshh," Naruto says, waving a hand in the air. "I was basically first."

"I'm pretty sure you were quite far off," Sasuke says flatly.

"Just let him delude himself," Sakura says, ignoring Naruto's pleading look.

"The two of you. Seriously. Have not gotten any better," Naruto mumbles under his breath.

"Pff," Sakura says. "As if _you_ have. Did you even notice anything different about me today?"

Naruto looks up. "Your hair Sakura-chan!"

Sasuke rolls his eyes. "Took you long enough."

Naruto gives him a flat stare, pushing open the door to the rooftop. Kakashi stands there lounging, waiting for his three students. His gaze flickers to Naruto first – his resemblance to his parents is uncanny, now that Sasuke knows – and then to him. Kakashi's visible eye narrows almost indiscernibly. His sensei is evaluating but there's a tiny sense of dislike intermingled in there as well. Ever since Obito he knows his sensei has had a dislike for the Uchiha archetype – silent, broody, dangerous. However his gaze simply skims over Sakura.

_Mistake_, Sasuke wants to tell him, _that girl is going to be terrifying._

But he doesn't.

"Well then," Kakashi says, falsely cheerful. "My name is Hatake Kakashi and I will be your jounin instructor. Let's start with a bit about yourselves – name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, your dream for the future… I'll start."

"That's okay," Sakura says quickly. "We don't need to hear."

Sasuke shoots her a look. She definitely hadn't been this confident or forward previously – at least, not until Tsunade had gotten her claws into her. Her strange belief in herself in starkly contrasted against her appearance. This Sakura seems to be growing into his old one, except it looks completely out of place amongst pink and impractical fashion choices.

Kakashi seems like-mindedly surprised. But then again, he probably didn't even read the file he was given on Sakura. After all, his teacher hadn't known about her chakra control until the tree-climbing exercise in Wave, and even after that had never harnessed her obvious potential. Not to mention how useless he was in harnessing Naruto's potential - he had left the blonde to _Ebizu _of all people - a theory type ninja, when _everyone _knew Naruto was anything but.

_This is Konoha's weakness_, he thinks with disgust.

"Sasuke," Kakashi says sharply, watching his expression carefully, "Why don't you start?"

Sasuke matches his sensei's stare head on.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I like…" he pauses. What can he say? What _has _he to say? What… what does he like? His life has been so hectic that he's never really had time for… _liking. _But… he has. He has liked things – people – like his family, like his old teammates.

Except they're all dead.

Kakashi is watching him carefully in his silence. Sakura has this forlorn, sad look on her face. Naruto is watching him as if he understands.

"Tomatoes?" the blonde finally offers.

Sasuke suppresses the automatic gag reflex. "_No," _he hisses.

Sakura and Naruto both wear identical expressions of surprise but it's true. Tomatoes remind him too much of his past life – memories which aren't pleasant. Memories which involve too much of his dead team mates.

"Are… are you sure?" Sakura asks tentatively.

"_Yes_," he snaps. "I'm sure. I don't have any hobbies. There. I'm finished."

Kakashi is now watching his team with much greater interest than previously. Fun-fucking-tastic. Now he's drawn more attention to himself. His sensei opens his mouth, about to ask him to finish his likes, dislikes and dreams for the future but Sasuke shoots him a glare. Relenting, he turns to Naruto instead.

"What about you Naruto?" Kakashi asks.

"The name's Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage," Naruto grins.

"Mhm," Kakashi murmurs non-committedly.

"Trust me," Naruto says, strangely calm. "It's going to happen. My likes are ramen, Konoha, and _hopefully, _my team mates. My dislikes are people who betray others in whatever way. My hobbies are eating ramen and spending time with people I love. My dream for the future is to become the Hokage and to live in a world where there is peace."

Sakura smiles softly at this.

"Wonderful," Kakashi says, in that way that is polite but not really meaningful. "And you Sakura?"

"My name is Haruno Sakura," she says sweetly. Sasuke turns around and stares – she seems to be going for the cute and innocent suck-up-to-teacher angle. But the Sakura he knew – _why is she even going for an angle?_

"I like dumplings, my friend Hinata-chan, and people who _help _instead of _destroy. _I dislike people who incite trouble after trouble has just finished. My hobbies are reading and my dream for the future… one in which all five shinobi countries are allied."

Sasuke frowns. That was basically the same as Naruto's, except while he had wanted peace she had simply stated alliances - had Sakura always been so political?

Kakashi nods absentmindedly, probably not even listening to the last member of his team. While Sasuke himself had received specialised training, he does acknowledge that Kakashi was a bad instructor in terms of developing their team as a whole. Disappointing, considering how great their Team could've been – would've been if they'd not all _died._

"Well then," Kakashi says. "I'll meet you all tomorrow at Training Ground 3. Six in the morning."

"So like ten o'clock," Naruto mumbles. Sasuke shoots him a look.

"I mean," he stammers, "Hinata told me that he's always late."

"And don't eat breakfast," Kakashi adds. "Goodbye!"

Then he shunshin's away, leaving Team 7 in his smoke.

"…tch." Sasuke grunts, stuffing his hands in his pockets and walking away. He doesn't want to slip up anymore around Team 7. He had been so invested into keeping his mask up and remaining distant except being around them had been a _familiarity _he hasn't experienced for twelve years. It was almost as if his teammates were magnetic, pulling him towards them, calling him into their familiar cocoon of _everything is going to be alright Sasuke after all we're the powerhouse team the best team, the team of Uzumaki Naruto, Nanadaime Hokage and jinchuuriki of Kurama, of Haruno Sakura, Root Commander and Head of Konoha hospital, and of Uchiha Sasuke, Head of ANBU and T&I, the last Uchiha, the Avenger-_

_Team 7._

* * *

><p><strong>Naruto<strong>

"You know," Sakura says quietly as Sasuke leaves, "Senju Tobirame, the Second Hokage, once said that the Will of Fire and the Curse of Hatred of the Uchiha are bound to clash. You told me in your story that Iruka-sensei told you that – he said that you embody the Will of Fire."

"I hope I do – it would be a good trait for a future Hokage." Naruto says wistfully. "But they also say that the Uchiha have great capacity for love and friendship. In fact, it is the loss of such love and friendship which easily turns their strong emotions to hate."

"Do you…" Sakura says softly, "Do you think Sasuke has inherited the Curse of Hatred?"

"Sasuke has suffered much, that's true," Naruto says slowly.

"Is that a yes?"

Naruto quirks a small smile. "I wouldn't know. You'd have to ask him."

"I would," Sakura agrees before her eyes turn down in worry. "But… they say that the Will of Fire and the Curse of Hatred – one day, they will fight to the death."

"Oh Sakura," Naruto chuckles softly. "They already have."

"_I know_," she says heavily, "and I have never felt more usel- connected, that is. To Konoha's history. You know what I mean. Hashirama and Madara really did go at it didn't they?"

"Yeah. They did. That was the battle of the Valley of the End right?"

Sakura clears her throat awkwardly. "Yeah. And to think that they were the best of friends before."

Naruto sighs. "The bestest."

"Well," Sakura says abruptly, "I'll be going now."

"Alright," Naruto says. "Stay safe."

Sakura stills before turning around and marching up to him.

"No," she says with a small smile, "_Have fun."_

Naruto's eyes widen as Sakura turns around and walks away.

_Have fun._

"And don't do anything stupid!" she calls back. "You're better than that!"

Naruto looks down at his hands.

_Have fun._

Then – _don't do anything stupid._

How _Sakura._

But also – _you're better than that._

He thinks back to last time, when he had henge'd into Sasuke to try to get a kiss from Sakura before a bout of bad milk had come back to haunt him.

_You're better than that._

He… really needed to hear that.

And Sasuke probably does too.

Naruto turns around and chases after his other team mate. He had originally planned on working on his mother's chakra chains this afternoon, continuing the work he had started this morning, but now he just wants to find Sasuke-

He collapses, his body dropping down onto the ground. But his mind – his mind is being pulled in and _in, into itself and beyond-_

**My jailor.**

Naruto's eyes snap open. The chains which he had used to hold Kurama after this morning's training are lying down on the dungeon floor. Kurama has his paws pressed against the bars, his face contorted with evil.

**Did you really think such chains could hold me? You have a long way to go before they're anywhere as near as strong as your mother's. Such techniques will never work when performed by amateurs like you. You were just lucky that you were smart enough not to rip the seal completely off. Otherwise you would be in pieces now boy, and so would your beloved village.**

Naruto sighs. "Hello Kurama," he says softly.

Kurama narrows his eyes.

**You have no right to address me by my name-**

"What do you want?" Naruto cuts in. "Why did you pull me here?"

Kurama pauses.

**I… am curious.**

Naruto raises an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "Curious?"

**This morning,** Kurama says slowly,** when you loosened the seal slightly, I felt a chakra residue on you.**

Naruto furrows his brow. "A chakra residue?"

**Yes. Hints of chakra from a previous technique. A very strong previous technique. And it was… mine.**

"…yours," Naruto says softly. "Is that why this conversation is happening civilly?"

Kurama growls.

**Tell me. Was it my yin half?**

Naruto smiles sadly. "No. It wasn't."

**What was it then? **Kurama fumes quietly.

Naruto pauses.

"Would you believe me if I said time travel?"

Kurama roars, slamming into the bars of his cell.

Naruto sighs. "I thought not."

How can he get the fox to believe him? They aren't on the most amicable of terms now - far from - and he knows that the fox will take anything he says as a lie, as a manipulation. Not that he can blame Kurama, considering the humans he'd been exposed to previously - humans like Madara.

Kurama growls again, pressing his face against the bars.

**Don't stay silent you- you just want to torment me you evil evil evil humans. You let me out you damned little brat tell me – what was it then? What was me-**

Naruto takes a deep breath, reaching deep for his chakra before shooting them out in chains.

**-these can't hold me you stupid boy I'm coming for you I'm coming for you how **_**dare **_**you do this-**

The chains clamp down on the beast and bring him to a heel.

Naruto walks calmly over to the bars of the cell and peers inside.

"Kurama. Listen to me. I know your name. You felt your own chakra residue – your own, not your yin half. Think about how that may be possible – _think – _and then maybe we can talk. Maybe we can compromise and I can start using these chains for actual battle purposes instead of holding you down."

**-as if I could ever compromise with a boy like you – off to go visit the **_**Uchiha-**_

"Also think," Naruto says quietly, "About how I know things that I haven't been taught. Things about you, things about chakra. We have a common goal, Kurama. Perhaps once you come to realise that we can talk."

**A common goal, **Kurama scoffs, **you're just like that manipulative bastard-**

"Uchiha Madara?" Naruto says quietly.

Kurama silences.

**You know his name, **he finally says flatly.

"You and I, we have a common goal," Naruto says quietly. "Think about what I have told you. And do not pull me in again. Dangerous times are coming. If you do, I will have to reseal you to the strongest extent."

**You would not do that, **Kurama says quietly, **you need my chakra.**

"I have sacrificed many things," Naruto says softly. "Your chakra would not be a loss."

**That's what you say. But you and I both know – without my chakra you are nothing. You are still a weak, weak boy.**

Naruto clenches his fists and the chains come down harder. Kurama hisses but is silent.

"Goodbye Kurama," Naruto says. "Do not call me again."

**You're a smart boy, **Kurama says, **just like your father.**

The jail begins to fade away, gradually bringing Naruto back to the present but Kurama's voice still echoes in his head – _just like your father._

Namikaze Minato.

When he was twelve years old last time around he knew next to nothing about his parents – they were mystical, illusionary, unreachable silhouettes in the darks of his mind. But now that he knows… perhaps it's time to take after one of the strongest shinobi in history.

Konoha's _Yellow Flash._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>Kurama's first appearance! So yeah, things are about to get moving. Next chapter will be... THE BELL TEST! I'm really excited about it, considering what I have planned :)

Lots of thanks to reviewers **Callian3, sauskaepanda, Lonely Athena, KRIOSdaBOSS, Zoleth, Guest, Broken Reveries, sagar, Please send me messages **and **Shinen no Hikari **xx

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and best wishes for the new year!


	10. Team 7 - II

**AN: HAPPY 2015! **I know it's a bit late, but here's a chapter! I've been a bit busy lately with the new year and everything and haven't had much time to write. I actually had most of the chapter done in 2014 but just never got the chance to finish it. But it's done and dusted now, so I hope you'll all enjoy the fated bell test! I changed it a bit so it's kinda different, but hopefully you'll all like it :)

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>Team 7 - II<span>_**

* * *

><p><strong>Sakura<strong>

Sakura fiddles with her nails, dutifully chipping away the pink nail polish that Hinata had so painstakingly painted the night before. The two had had a carefree sleepover last night in celebration of their graduation – not that it was any surprise considering the training they'd both received in preparation of it.

It had been good. Familiar. But her interactions with Team 7 – that had been dangerous territory.

It was a flaw of Team 7 that all three were so emotional. Naruto could distance himself when needed – be the mature leader the village needed rather than their jokester friend. Sasuke was a ruthless Head of ANBU and his sharingan had allowed him to dabble into T&I as well, becoming the joint head along with Morino Ibiki. As for her, she was Root Commander, the unfazed Head of Konoha Hospital.

Except when they were around each other their tenuous hold on their emotions would just collapse. They'd break down into banter, familiar, friendly, comforting territory. There was always that companionship of knowing that everyone around you understands you, has been through the same things that you yourself have gone through.

Together Team 7 is volatile. Separate they are emotionless. Team 7 is a hurricane and she'd allowed herself to be sucked right back into the eye. All the time she had spent trying to distance herself from her teammates had completely backfired because now – she can't even _think _around them. She's so scared of slipping up, of revealing things she shouldn't – and she _did._

She had dropped her persona – had become that strong, confident Sakura of a lifetime ago. And she _must _mend that. She had tried to readopt her sweet, innocent façade but it had been grasping at straws.

Which means that her persona has to come back full force today.

Sakura sighs, looking up at the sky above Training Ground 3. The sunrise has just begun and the illuminating colours of pink and blue splay across a green hill – green which had been splattered with the blood of countless ninja a lifetime ago.

She sighs, dropping down onto the grass and lying down. It's a requirement of her persona to be completely devoted to the rules so she'd arrived at six on the dot. She had been tired but she'd gone through worse – it's the actual human aspect of Team 7 that she's worried about.

Except… maybe this isn't so bad. She's beginning to understand why Shikamaru likes to look up at the clouds so much. He'd always been a smart child, she knows that, and perhaps that was why he understood the horrors of being a ninja earlier than all of them. And that was why he always looked to the clouds for comfort – they were whimsical, a far-reaching land of dreams where everything was just as it should be.

Sakura sighs again, sitting up. At least now with her future knowledge she hadn't skipped breakfast. And as a medic nin always knows – breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

Except… she's bored. It's been awhile since she's had hours to herself, free to do whatever she wanted. Naruto seems to know how late their sensei will be, considering Hinata told him. Sasuke is nowhere near the vicinity and Kakashi won't turn up until at least nine o'clock so she's got some time.

Sakura stands up, surveying the training ground thoughtfully. She can practice her technique – the Yin Healing Wound Destruction – but it will take up a lot of chakra. But then again, if she's going to continue with her persona of being weak, she won't really need her chakra. Her Seal of a Hundred is going well as well, so she _does _have that as a backup if things are going bad. But she really doesn't want to drain it – the events of the massacre had taken her a year to repair.

She pauses, readjusting her headband. Her Seal should be covered properly but she'll have to be careful – if someone knocks it off she'll have to do a lightning quick genjutsu. And if Kakashi-sensei sees that there'll be a lot to explain.

Sakura draws a kunai from her pouch, quickly making sure that there's no one around. Her hands glow with medical healing chakra at the ready, a bright green glow. First she'll have to learn how to direct her chakra away from her hands to other parts of her body and then somehow diminish the green glow so that its presence is unnoticeable.

She purses her lips. Perhaps she should cheat and fasten her training. She probably won't use any chakra today anyway if she's keeping the weak stereotype.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu," she whispers. Two other clones appear beside her, hands glowing with medical chakra. Her chakra stores have always allowed for only two kage bunshin, sometimes three if she's lucky, while Sasuke can usually manage five, sometimes more. Only Naruto has ever mastered the technique to its full potential.

Her two clones plop down next to her and begin the task of drawing her chakra away from her hands to her stomach. In her past life she had never needed this technique – Sasuke and Naruto were such front hitters that she always just used to trail behind them and heal everyone. She'd never needed to direct it anywhere _but _her hands.

Except maybe this time she can be more active. A field medic, one which can be just as powerful as her two team mates. Sure, chidori and rasengan look amazing but she can move mountains. A tiny touch of her chakra scalpels cuts and cuts _deep._

She grits her teeth, willing her chakra to stable. The chakra pathways away from the hands are smaller and fewer meaning that if she stuffs up she can burst her whole system. It has to be measured.

Gradually her two clones dissipate. The process is quite a bit easier now but still painstakingly slow. The whole premise of Kabuto's technique had been anticipating enemy techniques and getting the chakra there _fast. _There's no point coating an area in medical chakra _after _the attack – it'd be much faster to just use her hands.

Sakura flexes her wrists. _Small steps first. _

She directs her healing chakra away from her left hand to her wrist. Once it's stably resting there she grabs a kunai and stabs herself, digging the kunai around thoroughly before wrenching it out.

Automatically blood begins to poor out but then her skin begins to gradually knit itself together, peeling the flesh towards each other and smothering the blood before her wrist becomes unblemished. And it had all happened without her needing to actively think about it.

Sakura stills.

That was _amazing. _

If she can harness this technique to a level in which she can proficiently dispel it anywhere and then have her wounds heal without even having to _think _about it-

"Sakura. What are you doing?"

Sakura spins around, quickly slipping her kunai back into her pouch.

"Sasuke," she says breathlessly. He had snuck up on her – or had she been concentrating so much he hadn't noticed him?

"I was, uh, thinking. You know, about stuff."

He quirks an eyebrow.

"What-whatever. You're late you know."

Sasuke smirks. "By two hours. Yeah. But he's not going to turn up soon anyway."

"You believe Naruto?" Sakura asks in surprise.

"I believe Shikamaru."

"Right," Sakura clears her throat awkwardly. Originally her persona had been to heavily crush on Sasuke like last time. Except with all the history between them, even if he doesn't know about it, she doesn't think she can ever really bring herself to do it convincingly. Plus, with all the Uchiha hate the Hyuuga had fed her it would've been weird if she continued to like him.

Except that means she isn't sure how to treat him now. Is he a friend? An enemy? A classmate?

"Congratulations on coming first in graduation," Sakura ventures to say.

Sasuke grunts.

_Well…_

_It's going to be a long wait._

Sakura glances up at the sun, willing it to rise faster. If Naruto and Sasuke have talked to Hinata and Shikamaru respectively about Kakashi then they should have eaten breakfast too. Which is good. Her team is staying healthy.

Awkwardly she fiddles with her kunai. She wants to train but will Sasuke detect her chakra? He's always been good but sensing was never his forte. If he does notice though what will he think? Will he even care?

Experimentally, she brings forth a tiny bit of chakra to her fingertips.

Sasuke glances over at her and she muffles the chakra spark.

Dangit.

"What was that?"

Sakura resists the urge to roll her eyes. So _now _he talks.

"Huh?" she says innocently, eyes wide.

He scowls. "Nothing."

Sighing, she closes her eyes and reaches out with her chakra, searching for Naruto's chakra signature or at least Kakashi's. But there's nothing. Both are taking a jolly good time.

She begins to kick a pebble on the ground, thinking to the upcoming fight. It should go as planned considering Sasuke and Naruto are the same as they were last time around. All _she _has to do is control herself. After being off the field for such a long time there may be many trigger factors which cause her to go berserk, but if she simply stays away from the fighting as usual she should be able to avoid them all.

She had observed such reactions on many ninja who wanted to re-enter the field after years of idleness. While their physical prowess was regained in time with no problem, the memories of war posted a psychological problem – whenever there was a 'trigger', the mind would sometimes shut down, causing them to enter one of two states.

The first was a catatonic one. When the mind had been too weak to process the horrors of war these triggers would indicate to the mind that the person was back in such an environment and they would shut down, being unable to function.

The second was one of a mindless killer. This was something all of Team 7 fell into – when a 'trigger' appeared which reminded them of war the body would switch to autopilot survival mode and go on a rampage of sorts, destroying anything and everything.

But her persona is the useless persona. The weak persona. The one who won't partake in any of the drama and the bloodlust. The one who _can't. _The one who can't stomach the sight of blood, who doesn't understand Sasuke's past or her team mates' pains in losing a family, or never having one at all.

She is the sweet, innocent, naïve, civilian girl who chose a career she didn't understand.

So. As per persona, she will _not _engage in combat. She will _not _do anything different from last time. She will continue to be useless – even if she hates it – because it will keep the past as it is, as it _should be. _This is not an important battle, one which she needs to interfere in. And she won't – unless there's a trigger.

But _there will be no trigger. _

She will _not fight. _

And all will be as it should.

* * *

><p><strong>Sasuke<strong>

He's figured out a way to keep his persona.

It's called _shut his trap._

If he just doesn't speak it'll go along with his persona, as well as not give anything away. And no one will think anything else of it – after all, he's only ever really talked to Shikamaru and Chouji. They'll just think he's shy or some shit like that.

Next to him Sakura looks up. A second later Naruto appears in the distance, orange jumpsuit blaringly obvious against the green pastures.

"Looks like our third member is here!" Sakura says happily, looking extremely relieved.

He grunts. The dobe is even later than him – it's probably a good 9:30 now.

"Hey guys!" Naruto shouts, arm waving obnoxiously.

"Good morning Naruto," Sakura grins.

"Morning," Sasuke says curtly. The blonde looks happy and rosy – it looks like he chose to eat breakfast as well. Only Sakura turned up on time it seems, and without any breakfast as well. Following Kakashi's instructions to the dot – how very twelve-year-old Sakura. Except it _is _strange that Hinata would tip off Naruto and not Sakura. Speaking of which, how would Hinata know anyway? Shikamaru obviously didn't, not that any of his two team mates picked up on his lie.

He glances up at the treetops – Kakashi's chakra signature is coming in. Earlier than last time, funnily enough.

"He's early," Sakura murmurs.

Naruto snorts. "You call this early?"

Sakura frowns. "As if _you _can talk. And I just meant earlier than I expected."

Kakashi drops down from the treetops.

"Hello children!"

There's silence.

"You're late," Sasuke says, out of obligation.

"Well you see – there was this-"

"That's okay sensei," Naruto says quickly. "We don't need to know."

"Don't interrupt when sensei is talking!" Sakura scolds immediately.

Kakashi's one eye rises up in a smile. "I knew I liked you."

He turns around and places three bento boxes on the rock. "Now. I assume that all of you have skipped breakfast, as per my instruction. Now. What's going to happen today is a test."

"A test?" Naruto asks, eyes wide.

"A graduation test," Kakashi confirms.

"But- but we just passed," Sakura says, eyebrows knotting in confusion.

"That was only the first step. This test – _my _test – is one which determines whether or not you're all fit to be genin."

Sasuke resists the urge to snort. He's fit to be kage – all three of them are – in the future, at least.

"Now, let me just warn you – _no one has ever passed my test."_

Naruto and Sakura squeak in horror. Sasuke frowns.

"Now," Kakashi says, displaying the two bells on his belt. "The objective is to get a bell. Whoever gets one, passes."

"But there're only two," Sakura says quietly.

"Exactly," Kakashi says. "Only two will pass. The one who doesn't will go back to the Academy. You have two hours."

Immediately his eyes slide to Naruto, as if expecting the blonde to be the one that fails. If Sasuke were to bet, he'd pick him too. At this age even Sakura could surpass him.

"…no questions?" Kakashi says, mildly surprised.

"No sensei," Sakura says meekly. Naruto has a strange glint in his eyes, his fists clenching and unclenching.

"Well then," Kakashi shrugs, "Begin."

Immediately Sakura retreats to the bush, probably to stand around and do nothing as usual. Sasuke pauses before following her into the forest while Naruto still stands in the middle, seemingly unsure of what to do.

In the meantime, their sensei pulls out his Icha Icha and begins to read.

"That is so inappropriate," he hears Sakura mutter.

He frowns – how does Sakura, at this age, know about such books?

Naruto finally seems to make a decision and jumps back into the foliage. That's… different. Sasuke purses his lips. His plan had been to pretty much to the same as last time – be good enough to impress Kakashi but not good enough to actually get a bell. Except Naruto's gone with a different strategy this time around so he won't be able to utilise the same opportunity of the sneak attack. He can probably give Kakashi a good run for his money at this stage, but he has to limit his power to that expected of a twelve-year-old. That way no one will suspect anything.

Naruto and Sakura both seem content to sit and just do nothing so he supposes it's up to him.

He circles up the treetops until he's as close as he can be to his sensei while still staying hidden. Not that it matters much probably considering how he's not even making an effort to hide his chakra – his sensei will have sensed him in an instant, though this _is _what his twelve-year-old self had done last time.

He readies some kunai and shuriken before his hands whirl through seals.

"Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu."

He blows his giant fireball just as he throws his weapons on either side. This way his sensei is trapped – he can't escape the fireball or the path of his kunai. His only options are to extinguish the fireball or to go underground.

When the smoke clears from his technique his sensei is nowhere to be seen. However a quick search with his chakra confirms Kakashi's position underground.

Sasuke resists the urge to wince. While it makes sense that his sensei didn't extinguish the fireball –maintaining his façade as calm and unruffled – he had been hoping nonetheless. He's always hated that technique – _Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu _– burrowing into the ground like a mole.

The earth release technique has been used by the likes of Deidara, Kabuto, Madara, Obito and Orochimaru. It's never had good connotations and has become a sort of bad omen for Team 7 – every time this technique is used something bad arises from it.

Naruto however seems to be taking this opportunity to attack. He's making his way silently onto the training ground – not that it will make much difference as Kakashi will be able to sense his footsteps through vibrations in the ground. Naruto pauses a few steps away from where Kakashi is buried underneath. Slowly, the blonde reaches into his kunai pouch for a kunai and waits.

This time Sasuke can't stop the wince as Kakashi's chakra signature moves so that it stands directly under the blonde. This jutsu has been a source of nightmares for all members of Team 7 – faces of Kabuto, Orochimaru, Madara, appearing suddenly in front of them, grabbing them by the ankles and pulling them down _down down-_

Sasuke shakes his head frantically, ridding himself of such thoughts. Those had been dark times for their team, ones that not even their innocent Sakura escaped. This technique was perfected by those who morphed it, those whom not even Sakura could sense.

Everybody they trained with in the future knew not to use it against Team 7 – if they did, they would almost be certainly sent straight to the hospital.

It was always a sudden terror – their opposition was always so good that not even Sakura would be able to detect them. It was a hand combing up and grabbing you, or Orochimaru's face stretching up up up – or Kabuto's snake, swirling up your leg and choking you – or that bastard Madara-

_Kami _it was _nightmare worthy _stuff that jutsu. He'll gladly let Naruto take care of this before he jumps back in. The blonde won't be as traumatised as he – at this age he has no antagonistic memories associated with the jutsu.

Sasuke is almost tempted to look away when Kakashi shoots up. It's his sensei's familiar face but all he can see is Madara's face, but then it morphs into Orochimaru's, and Kabuto's and Deidara's and it's laughing and it's _disgusting and horrifying-_

Sasuke tears his eyes away from Kakashi to Naruto , to steady himself, but there's _something wrong with the blonde's eyes. _

Kakashi has his hand on Naruto's ankle, ready to pull him down in that same way he pulled down Sasuke a lifetime ago. But there's something inside Naruto's eyes. Something _feral. _

And then it disappears. _All _of it disappears. Naruto's eyes are _blank, empty, _as if he's running on _autopilot. _

In a flash Naruto wrenches his leg away, faster and stronger than Sasuke had ever suspected. Kakashi looks up in surprise but Naruto reaches down and grabs their sensei.

"Naruto-" Kakashi says in surprise but then the blonde wrenches him out of the ground and slams him down.

"Naruto-" Kakashi repeats, pushing himself up off the floor. Naruto growls and grabs his kunai, slamming it down in a yellow flash. Kakashi rolls to the side, barely missing the kunai as it cracks the earth underneath.

"Snap out of it," Kakashi hisses, but Naruto still looks _empty. _

And then Sasuke senses chakra building up inside his teammate. Kakashi has his hands ready, poised in a stance ready to attack or defend, but he _doesn't know what Naruto is capable of._

There's more and more chakra building up in his team mate and Sasuke is confused as _fuck _because _what is happening-_

Chakra chains shoot out from the blonde, dark, _black, _and _fast. _But Kakashi just stands there, as if he thinks he can defend himself but he _can't _because he doesn't understand Naruto_ doesn't he know he can't escape why is he just standing there doing nothing-!_

Sasuke wrenches forward and tackles the blonde down the same time Sakura pushes their sensei to the side.

"What the _fuck-" _Naruto spits but then Sasuke grabs his arms and pins them down.

"_Naruto," _he hisses, locking eyes with the blonde.

But then he feels the ominous _hate _of orange chakra.

"_Naruto," _he repeats steadily. "Listen to me. My name is Uchiha Sasuke. Your name is Uzumaki Naruto. Over there is Haruno Sakura."

It's the same words that Team 7 had decided to use whenever one of them lost their tenuous grip on reality. He doesn't know if it will work this time but it seems to calm the blonde down marginally, the kyuubi chakra seeping away.

Behind them, Kakashi is cursing.

Finally, Naruto's eyes seem to return to normal.

"Sasuke," he says quietly.

Sasuke grunts and releases the blonde, scrambling to his feet. He turns around to check Kakashi and-

_Sakura!_

Naruto seems to have the same realisation and a look of despair and guilt crosses over his face. The two boys scramble over to where Kakashi is helping Sakura up.

As they arrive their sensei's gaze lands on Naruto, eyes heavily guarded. Next to him, Sakura looks seemingly fine.

"Sakura," Naruto says brokenly. "A-are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Sakura says quickly, dusting herself off.

"No," Kakashi says, shaking his head. "The attack hit you. I'm sure of it. _I_ _saw it happen."_

"No," Sakura says gently, as if talking to a child. "Look." She lifts up her shirt, revealing unblemished smooth skin.

Kakashi furrows his eyebrows in confusion. "But-"

"You saw wrong," Sakura says firmly.

Kakashi seems to relent, turning to the two boys instead.

"The two of you?"

"Fine," Sasuke grunts.

"Yeah," Naruto echoes quietly.

Kakashi pauses, looking at the two of them. Finally, he turns to face all three.

"Sakura, Sasuke, you are dismissed. Go home, the two of you. Take your bento boxes. I'll meet you tomorrow at eight and we'll discuss whether or not you will be moving forward." He turns to Naruto, placing a hand on his arm like a clamp. "You can come with me. We're going to see the Hokage."

Sasuke frowns as Sakura whimpers, scampering over to where the bento boxes lie.

"Oh," Kakashi adds. "Sakura, Sasuke, don't mention what happened today to anyone. Or else I can guarantee that _no one _is passing."

Sakura swallows harshly at the threat but Sasuke just narrows his eyes. What are they going to do to Naruto? It's about him releasing his kyuubi chakra, no doubt. But there's no Team 7 if there's no Naruto.

"Go on then," Kakashi says, shooing the two of them away. Next to him, Naruto looks down at the ground, still looking incredibly guilty.

Sasuke turns around, mind whirling. This hadn't happened last time – so what had changed? Danzou isn't here anymore and who knows what's happening with Root. Had Danzou been placing restrictions on Naruto's chakra last time around? Knowing the elder it was likely - maybe that's why Naruto snapped - but at least now that he's gone hopefully Naruto's punishment will be light. Shikaku sympathises with Naruto, he knows that at least.

There's nothing he can do, and the thought doesn't lie well in his heart.

In front of him, Sakura tightens her grip on the bento box as she stares at Kakashi and Naruto's retreating back.

* * *

><p><strong>Naruto<strong>

Naruto winces.

The civilians know something is wrong – they're staring, all of them, as Kakashi leads him through Konoha Markets towards the Hokage tower, his hand like an unweilding snake bite on his arm.

Kurama's words ring loud in his head – _you are still a weak, weak boy. _

He had kept a vice grip on the chakra chains inside him – his mind had always been strong and this time had not been - should not have been - different. He is used to suppressing entities like Yami Naruto and keeping the chains strong had been no problem. Except that the fight had triggered something within him – something which took him back to the bloody battlefields of the Shinobi World War.

It was that damned technique – a low C-rank, sure, but _everyone _back then had known not to use it in front of their Hokage or his teammates. It brought back bad memories, memories of the _evillest _people and the _evillest _times. Kakashi-sensei had used it on him and-

He'd _snapped._

Sasuke had managed to bring him back to reality luckily – he wasn't sure what the Uchiha had said but his teammates had always had a great way of bringing him out of such trances. The war had left everyone traumatised and Team 7 had been their own coping strategy – it seems that old habits do die hard.

But he _was _extremely lucky that no one had gotten hurt. Kakashi might have been able to handle his attack but Sakura certainly _couldn't _– at least, not at this age. When he'd seen his teammate push Kakashi out of the way it was like someone had reached down his throat, taken his guts and wrenched them out. His teammate is much more reckless this time around for better or for worse – it seems like Hinata's had just as much influence on Sakura as she has had on the heiress.

Cautiously, Naruto looks up at Kakashi.

His sensei has his jaw clenched though it's barely visible behind his mask – only years of interacting with the lazy ninja has made him so in tune to his teacher's mannerisms.

Naruto sighs despondently – he's royally screwed things up. Kakashi had already been wary of him first time around, as Minato and Kushina's kid at first, but also because Kurama had been so scarring on the population of Konoha that the mere mention of the kyuubi left people jarred.

But his sensei had warmed up to him eventually, seeing him as a simple harmless dobe.

Except now he'd proved that he was certainly _not _harmless.

Ahead of him the Hokage Tower looms up, for the first time feeling slightly menacing.

Kakashi pauses outside.

"…wait here," he says.

Naruto nods.

Reluctantly, Kakashi lets go of the vice grip on his arm and disappears, no doubt shunshin'ing up to the Hokage's office.

Naruto crosses his arms, fingernails digging into his biceps to stop him from doing anything impulsive – he's always hated waiting, waiting for verdicts, for punishments. Hopefully they won't mindwalk him – while Sakura has always had her Inner and Sasuke had developed such skills from being on the run for years, he had never developed such a mental defence. When he was young there had been no need, and once he was powerful – powerful enough to hold worthy secrets in his head – Kurama had taken care of any invasion.

Except he doubts that the fox will be willing to do so now.

Naruto sighs again, looking up at the Hokage Tower. He can sense Kakashi with Sarutobi and luckily there seems to be no third presence in the room. Hopefully the Hokage will be lenient. At least his use of the chakra chains had provided him with an opportunity.

A moment later Kakashi's chakra signature disappears and he shunshin's back down to Naruto.

"Come," he says, his face a fraction friendlier. He gestures with his hand, deciding not to clamp onto the jinchuuriki this time around.

Naruto follows him up the stairs to the Hokage's office, ignoring the stares of the receptionist and the other ninja in the foyer with the grace from years and years of practice. Kakashi is staunchly silent on the way up but this time the silence isn't as stifling.

Naruto swallows nervously as Kakashi pushes open the door.

"Naruto," Sarutobi says kindly.

"Old man," Naruto manages to laugh, but his voice has a clear shake.

"Why don't you have a seat," the Hokage says, gesturing to the chair in front of him. Naruto plops down, still painfully aware of Kakashi's presence behind him.

"Now," Sarutobi says gently, "Why don't you tell me what happened?"

Naruto swallows harshly, reciting the story he had practiced in his mind on the way here.

"That day that I found about Kur-the kyuubi, he pulled me in to talk to him."

Kakashi shoots him a sharp look but the Hokage hides his surprise perfectly.

"What did he tell you?"

"Nothing much – mostly just cussing me out and stuff, but then this lady appeared." Naruto takes a deep breath and eyes the Hokage cautiously. He shouldn't know the intricacies of the seal, not without Jiraiya here, so this _should _be believable.

"A lady?" Sarutobi asks carefully, "Can you describe her to me?"

Naruto lets out a small breath of relief – it worked. "Um-" he says, making sure his tone is innocent, "-she had bright red hair and she always said dattebane."

Kakashi lets out a shallow breath. The Hokage narrows his eyes almost indiscernibly.

"She taught me this good trick to hold 'im down – the fox that is. Look – I'll show you!"

Trying to slow his rapidly increasing heart rate, Naruto points his palms up to the ceiling. Two thick chakra chains shoot up, stopping right before they hit the ceiling.

"The Adamantine Sealing Chains," Kakashi breathes.

"I thought we'd lost this technique forever after-" the Hokage turns sharply towards Naruto. "Did she say who she was?"

Naruto shakes his head, looking up at the Hokage with wide eyes. "Why?"

The Hokage looks up at Kakashi.

"…nothing," he finally says.

Naruto narrows his eyes. It seems as if the Hokage will need a bit more pushing to reveal the truth to him.

"However she did mention something about how she thought I'd be super good at my dad's techniques, but I thought she was just joking because I don't have a dad."

"Naruto," Kakashi says, his voice cracking, "Everyone has a dad."

"But… I _don't."_

The Hokage takes a deep breath.

"Naruto," he says slowly. "Your dad was… he was the Fourth Hokage."

Naruto shoots up from his chair, trying his best to act surprised. "What – how – are you sure? Then – then that woman-"

"Was your mother, yes. Her name was Kushina. Uzumaki Kushina – that's where you got your last name."

Naruto begins to breathe rapidly, in line with his façade, but he can't help but wonder – would the Hokage have ever told him the truth if he hadn't found out by himself?

"I know this is a lot to digest but… they loved you. Your father sealed the kyuubi into you to save Konoha. He wanted-"

"He wanted you to be a hero," Kakashi says softly.

"Oh," Naruto says quietly. This whole situation is fake on his part and he feels terrible about it – but he'll need to continue the façade so that he can get-

His father's techniques.

Power.

Bile begins to rise up his throat.

_He's turning into Sasuke. _

Naruto stumbles back.

"I know this is a lot to digest," the Hokage says gently, but _this is not about that!_

Naruto takes deep breaths to calm himself. This is not- _he _is not-

"Is- is there anything left of theirs?" he asks quickly, distracting himself from his train of thought.

"…yes," the Hokage says quietly. "Some of your father's notes on his old techniques."

"May I- may I have them?"

Sarutobi pauses. "They're a bit advanced-"

"_Please _let me try." This has so many possibilities – he can use the rasengan which he'll need, knowing that Kakashi will teach the Uchiha it later – not to mention his father's signature hiraishin. Kami here he goes sounding like _Sasuke-_

The Hokage seems to sense his inner distress because he nods.

"Alright. Just wait here then, I'll go get the scrolls."

Naruto nods and the Hokage disappears, leaving him _waiting. _Again.

He looks to the side at Kakashi, his father's student, but his sensei quickly averts his gaze.

Naruto frowns – is this too much for him?

After an achingly long wait the Hokage reappears, glancing quickly between Kakashi and Naruto before handing the blonde three scrolls tied together.

"Here you go," Sarutobi says.

"Thank you," Naruto says honestly.

"Now," the Hokage says gruffly, "Off you go then. I'll have you come back soon just so we can check up on your seal, but I think this time will be good for you to come to terms with this new information."

Naruto nods robotically.

"Yes sir."

"Good," the Hokage smiles. "Now, off you go then. Kakashi, I'll just have you stay behind. There're some things I need to go over with you."

"Yes Hokage-sama," Kakashi says quietly.

Both adults turn to Naruto and he gulps, resisting the urge to scamper away.

"I'll be going now then," Naruto says awkwardly.

"Yes," Sarutobi nods. "I will see to it that you come see me again in a few days, alright? We'll need to check up on your seals"

Naruto nods, taking measured steps away. He closes the door behind him and pauses – he should listen in to their conversation, see what the Hokage is instructing Kakashi to do. Except… he can't bring himself to do so. This is new territory, for him, for his sensei, for the Hokage. And he just feels so _tired._

Resolutely, Naruto turns around and walks down the stairs. When he reaches the lobby the chatter begins to flitter out, all of the ninja turning to watch him with distrust. Naruto swallows harshly, bowing his head – he'd think that he'd be used to it by now, after so many years, and he _has _but-

But he'd had such _high _expectations for today, and even though he's got his father's jutsus in his hand it doesn't feel quite _right. _

In front of him the doors to the Hokage Tower opens and Sakura walks in, head held high.

Naruto looks up in surprise, hands tightening around his father's old scrolls.

"Naruto," Sakura says resolutely. "Good to see you here."

"Well- um- yes?" Naruto says, scratching the back of his head with one hand. "What're you doing here?"

"I was just looking for my uncle," Sakura waves dismissively. "I wonder if he's here." She steps closer to him and pointedly stares each ninja in the room in the eye. They all look away from the pair and cautiously resume their old chatter.

"Ah! Kitomi-san," Sakura calls loudly. A Hyuuga jounin turns around and nods at his teammate, pointedly avoiding looking at Naruto.

"I haven't seen your uncle Sakura, I think he's on a mission."

"No matter," Sakura waves. "This is my teammate, Naruto."

The Hyuuga purses her lips, eyes flitting once over to him before back to Sakura. "How… unfor-"

"_My teammate," _Sakura emphasises. The Hyuuga silences. "Naruto, this is Hyuuga Kitomi. I know her from Hinata-chan."

"Oh," Naruto says, adjusting his hold on the scrolls awkwardly. "Hi. I'm also friends with-"

Sakura elbows him and he shuts up. He realises a second later – probably not best to mention being friends with Hinata in front of the Hyuuga prudes. They'd probably get her in trouble for associating with their heiress.

"Aren't you going to say hi?" Sakura asks pointedly.

"…good afternoon," the Hyuuga says quickly.

Naruto grins. "Good afternoon to you too!"

"Well then," Sakura says, "I'll be going then. See ya later Naruto, Kitomi-san."

"Goodbye," the Hyuuga murmurs.

"See ya?" Naruto says slowly, slightly baffled and unsure of _what _just happened. His teammate shoots him one last grin before bounding out of the Hokage Tower, probably continuing her search for her uncle.

Shaking himself out of his reverie, Naruto tightens his hold on his father's scrolls and begins his walk out, head held high. Except now no one's looking at him – there are no judgemental stares. Everyone's making sure not to be obviously mean which is... new.

Naruto pushes the door to the tower open, small smile on his face. He's already feeling better – better about everything. So what if the Hokage's talking to Kakashi now? His sensei is a smart man – a _good _man – and he won't buy into that kyuubi hate of the villagers. And after their conversation in the Tower he feels as if Kakashi does see him as more now – more than a spawn of Minato and Kushina but an actual kid, a legacy of two of the most important people in his sensei's life.

Naruto's step falters. He pauses in the middle of the path away from Konoha Markets and squints.

Lips curling up into a grin, Naruto tucks the scrolls under his arm, stuffs his hand into his pockets and approaches the figure leaning against the tree.

"Hey Sasuke," Naruto nods.

"Naruto," Sasuke nods back. Then he reaches down and grabs something from behind the tree.

"Here," he says gruffly, averting his eyes awkwardly. Naruto's gaze drops down to the bento box in his teammate's hands.

"From this afternoon. I- uh- heated it for you. Reckon you haven't had lunch yet."

Naruto opens his mouth, then closes it.

"I-"

Sasuke drops the bento box onto the ground and unceremoniously walks away.

Naruto blinks twice.

Then he grins, leaning down and grabbing the bento box, tucking it under his other arm.

"Thank you," he whispers to the wind.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>I know I know, all three of them are still hiding. But don't worry - things are coming to a head soon! They won't all stay weak - I won't give any spoilers, but I can guarantee that the reveal _will _happen, and it will _not _be happening at the end of the story... kind of. The idea I have is kind of complicated but hopefully it turns out like I hope it will. Also, Naruto's reconnecting with some Namikaze legacy! I'm quite excited about that :)

Thanks to reviewers **Callian31, the Hate Child, Broken Reveries, Guest, Lonely Athena, Insidious Person, Sincerely Athena, wingofpain, DaManKaliel, Shinen no Hikari **and **depressedchildren**. I love hearing all your comments!

Hope you all enjoyed, best wishes for 2015 and leave a review/PM me letting me know what you think about how everything's progressing x


	11. Team 7 - III

**AN: **Kind of a filler chapter. Sorry guys! But on the bright side, things are starting to heat up :)

* * *

><p><em><strong>Team 7 - III<strong>_

* * *

><p><strong>Sasuke<strong>

Something's _off._

Something's off about him, about Sakura, about Naruto.

Next to him, Sakura fiddles with her thumbs uncomfortably – one of the Hyuuga heiress's habits, actually. She looks up and he quickly glances away, eyes turning back to the treetops opposite them. The two of them are waiting – have been waiting for the last half hour – for their sensei and their last teammate.

Sakura swallows noisily before he senses a quick jolt of chakra bursting from her fingertips. He looks over but his teammate is staring absentmindedly into the sky.

Strange.

Sighing, Sasuke rubs his eyes. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night thanks to all the weird stuff going on with Naruto and how strange he'd been acting – how strange even _Sakura'd _been acting. And he'd been… worried. Not that Uchiha Sasuke ever worried, of course, but-

Sasuke grunts. Whatever. Like he had been thinking, he hadn't gotten much sleep last night and while that was something he was more than used to in his last life, having had copious amounts of sleep this time around meant that his body wasn't nearly as ready to cope with the strain.

"They're coming," Sakura whispers softly. "Together."

Sasuke narrows his eyes – this had been one of the issues he had been- not worrying- _thinking _about last night. Sakura seems grossly _better _this time around than last time – _why?_

He looks over at his teammate but she's twiddling her thumbs again, like Hinata always does.

Sasuke pauses – is it all because of Hinata? He knows that Sakura at this age had always been that awkward mix between insecure, shallow and naïve – maybe that had made her also extremely influentiable? Is that even a word? Able to be influenced?

Sasuke scowls and Sakura sneaks a peek over.

Maybe because she'd been so close to Ino last time some of that crazy confidence had rubbed off, but now that she's with Hinata she's meeker and more willing to train? Or something like that, he supposes.

But that still doesn't explain all her quirks and-

Naruto's chakra signature flickers into his range, accompanied by Kakashi.

Sasuke sighs – now that is a _whole _other issue.

Naruto's grip on the kyuubi had slipped yesterday – that much was obvious. He had looked happy when Sasuke saw him yesterday so he'd thought that the talk with the Hokage had gone well. But today the blonde is coming with Kakashi – and from the direction of the Hokage Tower no less. Had something else happened? Had they been checking up on his seal? Could they even _do _that without Jiraiya?

Sasuke sighs again, resisting the urge to rub his temples. Goddammit he's not used to- to _worrying._

Stupid Sakura. Stupid _Naruto. _

Kakashi and Naruto finally emerge from the treetops into Training Ground 3. Sakura looks up with a grin, matching Naruto's equally rambunctious one and Sasuke scowls even harder. His stupid teammates are so oblivious and _happy _while he's here _worrying. _

Of course he's only worrying because if things change too much his plan will have to be re-evaluated. Right.

Goddammit.

At least Kakashi walks in looking somber for his usual self. This at least makes Sasuke smile slightly before he realises that Kakashi's somber expression probably doesn't bode well for either of them.

Sasuke scowls again.

"Good morning Naruto, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura greets sweetly.

Sasuke scowls even harder. She hadn't greeted _him. _

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto grins before turning to Sasuke. "Sasuke."

Sasuke grunts, instinctively turning away. The blonde is still grinning, no doubt remembering that awkward incident from yesterday. Instead, Sasuke turns his gaze to their sensei who is eyeing all three with a seemingly blank stare.

"Team 7," Kakashi muses.

Almost instinctively Sasuke snaps to attention and even Sakura and Naruto manage to gain enough control over themselves to pay attention.

"I'm sure you're all wondering whether or not you all managed to pass."

Sasuke suppresses the urge to wince – that had been the last on his list of 'things to worry about'. It doesn't help that Kakashi is beginning to produce that deathly aura he still remembers from last time around – the one he had scared his twelve-year-old genin team with after they fed Naruto food while he was on the pole. After all, this is one of the most important things that _has _to happen – if there's no Team 7 the timeline he knows will fracture. Which means if Kakashi pulls a stunt like that, Sasuke will have to sacrifice his pride and pull the teamwork card – because goodness knows at this age Sakura and even Naruto haven't grasped that yet.

But who knows – if he pulls the teamwork card maybe it'll turn out better for him. Kakashi will be less so damn suspicious and maybe start teaching him earlier – all of the jutsu he's learnt from his sensei – chidori, raikiri – it'd be _very _useful to be able to start using them again. And if Kakashi looks upon him more favourably, so will the rest of Konoha – after all, as lazy as his sensei is he's still an extremely capable and popular ninja. He'd been prime candidate for Hokage after all – even made the position after Tsunade, right before Naruto's reign.

Kakashi seems to take joy in his team's nervous energy – Naruto looks like he's about to burst and Sakura is pretty much chewing her lip off.

"However before we begin," Kakashi says smoothly and Sakura looks murderous_, _"-Naruto has something to tell you."

Naruto steps forward quickly and blurts out – "I found out who my parents are."

Sasuke pauses. _Really? _How? _Why? _Was it because of the kyuubi?

"That's wonderful!" Sakura says quickly.

"They were both, uh-" Naruto scratches his head awkwardly, avoiding his teammates' stares. "They were both- missing ninja."

Sakura's smile drops. "What."

"That's not true," Sasuke says flatly.

"Yes it is," Naruto says earnestly.

Sasuke snorts in disbelief. What had the Hokage done? Spinning his head with _lies – stupid stupid Konoha he knew they should've burned-_

But then something seems to click in Sakura because she says enthusiastically- "I don't care! It doesn't matter who they are, it only matters who _you _are, and _you're _my _teammate."_

"What." Sasuke deadpans.

Kakashi is still watching the three with a careful eye and Naruto is sheepishly running his hand through his hair, eyes darting everywhere but his and Sakura's.

"What." Sasuke repeats.

Sakura spins around and glares at him, shuffling closer before she grabs him by the shirt and yanks him towards her.

It's only the bright pink hair which reminds him that this is _Sakura _and not _enemy _which stops him from instinctively cutting her throat with the kunai inches from his hand.

"_Teamwork," _she hisses, and immediately Sasuke understands.

Sakura lets him go and he turns to Naruto.

"Whatever," he says gruffly. "What Sakura said. I don't care."

Then he turns to Kakashi and waits expectantly.

"Well," their sensei finally says, "I suppose that's the best I'll get from him."

He turns to his three genin and smiles. "You all… PASS."

Sasuke smirks.

"YES!" Naruto whoops, "I knew you guys could do it. YES!"

Sasuke's smirk drops. "You guys? 'I knew _you guys _could do it'?"

Naruto freezes, chuckling awkwardly.

"Well," Kakashi smiles, interjecting before a fight can start, "Caught red-handed."

"Sensei?" Sakura asks, her voice a perfect mix between innocence and confusion. But her eyes are glinting, promising violence in that familiar way of old Sakura.

"Before you all start shouting," Kakashi says, as if they would – well, maybe Sakura would. "Tell me – why do Konoha ninja work in units?"

"Oh I know!" Sakura says quickly. "Teamwork. Konoha ninja are supposed to prize teamwork over the individual."

"And why is that?" Kakashi asks. "After all, isn't the whole point of being a ninja honing your own individual talents?"

"Because," Sasuke says quietly, "An individual action that disrupts teamwork will result in danger or even death for the teammates."

Naruto grits his teeth. Sakura smiles wanly.

"Isn't that _true," _she says, baring her teeth at Sasuke. "Glad to know you know it then."

Sasuke bristles, quashing the guilt which is beginning to rise in his stomach.

"In every mission you put your life on the line," Kakashi says, stepping in between Sakura and Sasuke. "There is a stone, you know, where many names of ninjas – heroes – are carved."

"Really? I want my name to be there!" Naruto says, but his enthusiasm feels forced. Bitter.

Sasuke can feel the familiar repulsion beginning to surface within him, taste the bile at the back of his tongue. The last time he'd passed the memorial stone it had had one new name carved on it – _Haruno Sakura. _He had saw it, in fact, while he had been sneaking into Konoha for her funeral.

Except it had failed – Naruto had seen him and had gotten so _angry-_

They had fought over her coffin.

"No," Kakashi says, snapping him out of his trance. "They're the names of those who were-"

"Killed In Action," Sasuke whispers.

Sakura's eyes flitter to his. "I have a feeling I'll end up there," she murmurs.

"_No_," Naruto emphasises. "In that case, _none _of us are going to end up on that memorial stone. Not even you Kakashi-sensei."

"My friends names are carved there," their sensei muses. He turns back to the three genin, smile back on his face. "Ninja need to think beyond the normal. In the world of ninja, those who break the rules are called trash. But those who abandon their teammates are worse than trash."

Almost synonymously his two teammates surreptitiously glance at him. Sasuke averts his eyes.

"The point of this was to test your teamwork," Kakashi says. "Actually, I had come here today with the intent of passing you all – your reactions in the bell test to Naruto's slip-up already showed strong signs that you would become a seamless team. However I had to make sure that it wasn't a coincidence, done merely for self-preservation instead of real teamwork. So I came up with this test."

He gestures for Naruto to come over and the blonde steps up.

"You see," Kakashi says, gesturing towards Naruto, "Naruto here found out some information yesterday. It was quite personal – the reason, in fact, that your parents might have told you to stay away from him."

Sakura blushes but Sasuke simply grits his teeth. Parents, huh?

"However Naruto was adamant on sharing it with you two. And when I asked him why, he told me that it was because it could endanger the both of you and he wanted you all to be best prepared. That was a true show of teamwork to me – Naruto was willing to reach out to you. So the question remained – would you two be willing to extend the gesture back?"

"So you came up with the missing nin idea," Sakura surmised, "knowing that with all the teachings the Academy exposed to us, we would immediately recoil from such an idea."

Kakashi smiles. "Good deducing work Sakura."

"And it worked!" Naruto says excitedly. "See? We three are one!"

Sakura stares at him and laughs. "That's right! We three are one! Ha! We three are one!"

Sasuke stares at his two teammates incredulously. This can't be happening again – the _exact same thing _his teammates had said last time – they're saying it all – _again!_

Kakashi turns to him expectantly and Sasuke sighs, but it's a strange, _strange _sigh of something more than annoyance – of nostalgia and maybe even happiness-

"We three are one," he acquiesces.

* * *

><p><strong>Sakura<strong>

"Now wait," Sakura says, "What was it you _really _wanted to tell us? Before Kakashi roped you into his plan?"

"Well," Naruto says sheepishly, "I dunno if you all noticed yesterday, but well, I was emitting a different type of chakra."

_Yes, _Sakura thinks, _it was quite obvious and _very very_ malicious. Anyone could have felt the hate from a mile away._

"It's because- uh-" Naruto chokes off, swallowing quickly. "Um…"

Sakura softens. It must be hard for Naruto – he's at the age where everyone hates him yet he's telling her and Sasuke something which, as far as he knows, will only make them hate him more.

"Go on," she says softly. "It's alright."

"See uh- when's my birthday?"

"October 10," Sasuke says quietly, the same time Naruto says – "What am I asking? You obviously don't know."

Sakura narrows her eyes at Sasuke. There's a moment of strained silence before Sasuke says – "I remember. From the Academy."

Something's off.

"You have good memory," Sakura says slowly.

"You have good chakra perception," Sasuke counters.

"Anyway," Naruto says, and Sakura turns back immediately, feeling bad for turning this away from him again. "October 10. Twelve years ago. That uh, ring a bell?"

Sasuke narrows his eyes.

"Oh my god," Sakura says quietly, for show if nothing else. "The- the kyuubi attack."

"Yeah," Naruto says softly. "What ended up happening to him?"

"The Fourth Hokage defeated it-" Sakura begins.

"No." Sasuke cuts her off. "He didn't."

She shoots him another sharp look – how did he know? The Uchiha? But he hadn't known last time around and he'd only been eight when- when they all died.

"What?" Sakura asks forlornly.

"He sealed the kyuubi away," Naruto says softly, lifting up the top of his jumpsuit. "_Look," _he says brokenly. "It-it's _me."_

Sakura can feel pain clutching at her chest at the sight of Naruto's despondent look. "It's not you," she says vehemently. "It's not you, it's- it's _different."_

"I hate it," Sasuke hisses. Naruto recoils, eyes hurt. "But- but it's not… it's not you, like Sakura said."

Sakura looks at Sasuke in surprise as Naruto breaks into the largest grin she's ever seen.

"Thank- thanks guys. Really. Th-thanks," he says, and it looks like he's about to tear up in that _Naruto _way of his-

"Hn," Sasuke grunts, but it's that familiar 'stop crying dobe you're making me uncomfortable' grunt of his. Naruto grins wobbly and behind him, Kakashi has a real smile on his face.

"Don't cry yet," their sensei says, placing his hand on top of Naruto's head, "There's more."

Sakura pauses. "There's _more?"_

"I- uh- I found out who my parents are. _Really _are," Naruto says.

Sakura freezes. _No. _He can't – the seal-

_No. _What's she thinking? The Hokage must've told him. There's no way he loosened the seal-

But why would he? If she was the Hokage, that's _definitely _not what she would've done. Naruto at this age is one in which he might shout it to the world and the right political decision would _not _be to tell him. But the Hokage was always sentimental- _no. _He still wouldn't have done it without being pushed. But how- what-

"…who?" Sasuke says cautiously.

"Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina!"

There's silence in the clearing.

"The Fourth Hokage," Sakura says softly.

Naruto smiles. "Yeah. But you guys can't tell anyone – I mean, no offense but-"

"It's not our secret to share," Sakura finishes.

"Yeah," Naruto mumbles.

"That's right," Kakashi cuts in, but Sakura's mind is still whirling on her previous thoughts. "If you talk I'm afraid you aren't fit to be ninja yet – your teammate has trusted you and you would be worse than scum if you were to betray it."

Sasuke winces, but Sakura has to ask-

"How did you find out?"

"Just some intricacies with his seal," Kakashi says, "Don't worry about it, you won't understand."

Sakura tenses. Next to her Sasuke frowns.

"The… seal?" she repeats.

"Like I said, don't worry about it," Kakashi smiles.

"I-" Sakura says, opening her mouth before closing it. "It-"

"It doesn't work that way," Sasuke whispers next to her, so quiet she almost doesn't hear. Naruto and Kakashi are oblivious to her teammates words but to Sakura they're so momentous because _what _does he mean and _how _could he _know what does this all mean why is her world splintering?_

_Team 7 is not what it seems right now, _Sakura sees.

"Congratulations," Kakashi says brightly, unaware of her inner turmoil. "Team 7 is ready for missions. Your first one will begins tomorrow – a D-rank, of course. Meet me here at 7."

"Yes sir!" Naruto salutes enthusiastically.

"I'm- uh- I'm gonna go. Now." Sakura says quickly, turning around and walking away quickly without waiting for an answer. Something strange is going on – something bigger than petty team troubles. There is an elephant in the room and Sakura can't see it. But she _knows – _she _knows _that it is there.

Perhaps Naruto and Sasuke sense it too because they let her go without a word of protest. Team 7 is more mellowed this time around – _she _is more mellowed this time around. From love found and lost, from friendships broken, from vanished identities, from pain and blood and gore and _war. _

_That fucking war. _

Sakura takes a deep breath. She's losing her hold on her emotions – that always seems to happen when she's around her teammates huh? It had all been good focusing on _the future _and how to _save the fucking world _but she'd really been – really is – a bit screwed up. She still feels like a separate entity, as if all her actions are for the purpose of _acting _rather than feeling,_ living. _Team 7 has always been screwed up, but they had been screwed up _together. _

And now she's alone.

But is she?

_God. _

Sakura resists the urge to tear her hands through her hair. This is not- _she _is not- where had her emotionless Root façade gone? All this stuff with Naruto and Sasuke – had her sudden reunion with such strong anchors in her past caused her to go crazy? She's a medic nin, she knows the signs even though the area isn't her speciality.

The only good thing that seems to have come out today is that Sasuke had figured out her teamwork hint through that thick skull of his and Team 7 passed.

She needs to get back her routine, Sakura resolves. All this fretting is not good for her.

Mind made up she turns resolutely towards the Hyuuga compound. She has to bypass the Uchiha compound on the way – after all, Konoha isn't big enough for two of the biggest compounds to be too far apart – but her chakra perception allow her to stay _far far _away from Sasuke.

The Hyuuga compound is good. It's routine. It reminds her of the day where there was familiarity, routine and _discipline. _

Discipline had been important in her duties as head of Root and Konoha Hospital and discipline had been equally present in her time with the Hyuuga. It had been good. Familiar. She had liked it. It had made her feel as if she had a purpose, a goal she was striving towards. It didn't fill her mind with preposterous thoughts like maybe her teammates-

The Hyuuga compound gates appear before her, snapping her out of her daze. New gate guards are posted there – the ones she had humiliated seven years ago had been promoted three years ago. These new ones have no hostility towards her but are also unaware of the contract she had carried with the Hyuuga. In fact, it's been so long that essentially her slate has been wiped clean – there are few she sees now who are aware of Sakura's first 'relationship' with the clan.

The gate guards give her a nod as she approaches the gates – the Hyuuga version of a cheerful greeting – but they both seem strained. When they swing open the metal gates for her, Sakura notes that the whole compound seems quiet and strained. More than usual, that is.

She thanks the gate guards quietly and they close the gates behind her, the loud bang echoing through the stifling silence.

A second later, Hyuuga Kitomi appears in front of her – a Hyuuga jounin she had trained with years ago, and the one she had encountered yesterday in the Hokage tower.

"Kitomi-san," Sakura murmurs quietly. There's no need to act around Kitomi – the jounin is one of the few who knows how trained she is. One of the advantages in training with the Hyuuga, she supposes. They're an intensely private clan, reclusive almost. It's advantageous to her because it means that arrangements such as hers never reach the Hokage. And the Hyuuga like it because she's their own little secret weapon. She's bound to them now – they trained her as a child and she'll carry the loyalty for the rest of her life.

"Sakura," the jounin says quietly, "I was just going to find you."

Immediately Sakura is on high alert. "What happened?"

Kitomi sighs, the small breath belying the jounin's sadness. "Elder Arumi is dead."

For a second Sakura's mind is blank.

"What?" she says coldly.

"Elder Arumi died," Kitomi says softly. "Peacefully. From old age, I can assure you that."

Sakura reels back in surprise. Elder Arumi, when she'd first met her, had been a taciturn elder, critical of a young Sakura. Especially compared to ambivalent Elder Hoshiko and the mellow Elder Juu, Arumi seemed a harsh force to be reckoned with. She had been the most skeptical about training Sakura. But as they'd trained more, as she'd gotten to know the woman more, Sakura held a strange but a strong respect for the woman. To Sakura she represented what a strong, free, independent spirit like hers would have turned out in in a clan of such high political tensions as the Hyuuga.

There's an emptiness in her chest – emptiness Sakura has not felt for a long time. And it feels constricting, sorrowful, like the grips of reality creeping up and suppressing her from her gut all the way up to the top of her throat.

The feeling reminds her of _war. _

"This is your first death, I understand," Kitomi says, "But you must learn to overcome it. You know, Sakura, many were not as lucky as you and their first deaths came years before. You must learn to bounce back."

Immediately Naruto and Sasuke come to mind but she pushes them away quickly.

"I'm fine," she says quickly. It's not her first death and it shouldn't affect her. It _shouldn't. _

"Sakura-" Kitomi begins, but Sakura cuts in.

"Where's Hinata?" she asks brusquely.

Kitomi purses her lips. "In the gardens."

"Good bye then," Sakura says curtly.

"Sakura-" Kitomi sighs but Sakura shunshin's away. It probably isn't necessary but she needs to _get away _and she knows the compound well enough anyway so what's the harm and Hinata's probably hurting anyway-

Sakura quickly wipes her eyes with her sleeves. She isn't crying. She _isn't. _

In front of her she sees Hinata in the gardens, leaning down as she peers at her newly planted seeds. Another familiar chakra signature flitters at the edge of the gardens, just out of sight.

"Hey," Sakura says softly, easily slipping into her medic-nin alter-ego. "I heard about Elder Arumi. How are you holding up?"

Hinata shrugs, not looking up from her plants. "Alright, I guess. I mean, I didn't know her very well but I- I admired her. She was strong. In a clan I- I couldn't be strong in."

"She was a strong woman, a good woman," Sakura agrees quietly.

"Don't pretend like you knew her," the sharp voice of the hidden figure finally calls out.

Next to her, Hinata tenses.

"Neji-san," Sakura addresses tersely. She had wanted to be on good terms with the Hyuuga prodigy but unfortunately her friendship with Hinata had meant that she had been immediately termed enemy in his eyes. It also doesn't help that her civilian appearance and pink hair seems to perpetrate the idea of weakness that he hates.

"You should leave," Neji says, every bit the arrogant brat at twelve this time around that he was last time. "You don't deserve to be here with us at this time. Not you, not Hinata-sama. You never knew her. You were too _weak _to train with her, and now you never will."

Hinata looks as if she's about to break out into sobs and Sakura narrows her eyes at the prodigy.

"Leave," she says quietly. _"Now."_

Neji bristles, evidently not used to being ordered around. Sakura sends a sharp burst of chakra to her fingertips and Neji, at high alert as always, senses it. He frowns, looking unsure of what to do before finally retreating. This time no Hyuuga ninja jump out to subdue her – the elders had made sure that she be untouched.

The elders – but now only Hoshiko and Juu are left.

Sakura turns back to Hinata, making sure her unfazed mask is still on and unbreakable – after all, like Neji said, she never knew these people, never would.

But she _did _and it _hurt-_

"How was team training?" Sakura asks quickly, diverting the topic. It won't do her any good to Sasuke-angst any more.

"Alright," Hinata smiles. "Kiba's loud but he's sweet and Shino… he's really quiet but I think he's nice."

"That's good," Sakura says. Like last time Team 10 hadn't had another test like Team 7 had – stacked teams like theirs had to pass, especially when they carried three clan heirs. It was too good of an opportunity for them not to all pass – if a team like that came to fruition ties between the three clans would strengthen immensely and it was all nice warm fuzzy feelings for political brains like hers and the Hokage's.

"What about you?" Hinata asks.

Sakura suppresses the urge to wince. She should've known – asking a question like that she'd be expected to answer too.

"Oh, you know, good," she answered vaguely. "It was, uh, good of you to warn Naruto about Kakashi though."

Immediately Sakura regrets her words – now Hinata's going to feel guilty about warning Naruto and not her, just as she was trying to cheer up the heiress too.

But Hinata simply frowns and Sakura's world begins to fracture.

"What are you talking about Sakura?" the heiress says, blissfully unaware of the implication of her words. "I didn't warn him."

* * *

><p><strong>Naruto<strong>

Naruto walks into the Bokudo Weapons Shop, palms tingling.

The shopkeeper narrows his eyes at the young blonde and gestures over his chuunin son, whispering quietly in his ear. Naruto sighs – no doubt the shopkeeper is scared that he's going to make off with some weapons like last time. Which he won't, now that he's an official ninja under the Hokage.

As a celebration for passing, Iruka-sensei had offered to treat him to ramen however Naruto had asked for some new weapons instead. So his old Academy sensei had given him 10000 yen to go and purchase himself a new set of kunai and shuriken - at least, that had been what he told him. Except Naruto still has the pack he nicked last time from the shop and now that he's got his father's scrolls and a viable way to explain more of his future knowledge, Naruto is well intent on utilising them.

"Good afternoon," Naruto greets politely. "How much is a custom made kunai?"

While his father's scrolls allow him to perform the hiraishin, Naruto has plans to branch out into the Rasen Senko Cho Rinbuko Sanshiki – a technique only his father had been able to perform. While the hiraishin was useful for escape or simple quick teleportation, the latter was more effective as an attack, either against individuals or armies – something he'll need knowing the upcoming fights against the likes of Zabuza, Orochimaru and the Sand Invasion.

However the latter technique requires custom made kunai – these ones will have three prongs instead of the standard one and be heavier than them as well, but the three prongs will make them more useful in melee fighting. He'll put the special hiraishin seals on the handle and then they'll be exact replicas of his father's.

His father had many techniques that he used with these kunai - throwing multiple special kunai, making the opponent unable to guess where he would end up, keeping them at safe houses for safety and the likes.

Naruto grins – now that he can, he is dying to utilise these techniques.

"7500 yen," the shopkeeper sneers.

Naruto shakes his head. "Tell me the truth or I'll report to the Hokage and you'll be charged with extortion. I'm a fully instated ninja now, and I won't steal from you."

The shopkeeper purses his lips. "5000 yen."

Naruto frowns. This time the shopkeeper is telling the truth – he knows that – but it is still expensive. He'd have been able to buy a full set of weapons with 10000 – twenty kunai and ten shuriken. Not that he'd expect anything less for something custom made. But two kunai takes away the confusion aspect of the attack but it doesn't matter - he'll just have to utilise these two well. He could always throw them behind the opponent then teleport there, attacking at the blindside. Hopefully though he'll have enough money to buy more soon, and he'll have the regular hiraishin either way.

"I'll take two please," Naruto finally says, sliding over the money.

The shopkeeper nods, not looking pleased but refraining from saying anything derogatory. "What design would you like?"

Naruto reaches into his pocket and unfurls the sketch he'd made of his father's signature kunai.

The shopkeeper looks down at the sketch then back up at Naruto, taking in his features with a new eye.

"I… haven't made these in a long time," the shopkeeper muses. His son peeks over and stares at the sketches but obviously doesn't recognise them – the chuunin looks fifteen meaning that he'd have been only three when the Fourth had died.

"Alright then," the shopkeeper says, putting the money in the cash register. "They'll be ready in a week."

He hands Naruto back the sketch and the blonde looks up at him in confusion.

"Don't you need it for reference? It's got all the measurements on it."

The shopkeeper smiles nostalgically. "I know them by heart, my boy. Now off you go."

Naruto thanks him quietly before pausing.

"I- uh- I'm sorry for stealing from you before," he says sheepishly.

The shopkeeper lips turn up in a small smile. "It's been years boy, it's alright. And… good luck with your jutsu."

Naruto's eyes widen minutely in surprise before grinning. "I will. Thanks, uh-"

"Iide Hajime," the shopkeeper introduces. "You can call me Iide-san."

Naruto grins. "Will do Iide-san!"

The shopkeeper gives the boy one last nod and Naruto waves. He pauses just outside the exit to lightly brush the inside of the door, leaving behind a hiraishin seal. If things go too bad in battle he can hiraishin here, grab some weapons for him and his team before hiraishin'ing back – he feels as if the man is warming up to him somewhat. Hopefully by then though he'll have gathered enough money to reimburse Iide-san for his troubles.

Giving the shopkeeper one last wave, Naruto leaves Bokudo Weapons Shop, heading towards the Hyuuga compound. Now that the hiraishin has been taken care of, he needs to focus on the second of his father's scrolls – the rasengan.

While he has the normal version down pat, now he needs to improve it using that scroll he stole from the Hyuuga all those years ago – during that incident where he'd met Hinata and finally snapped himself out of that post-war state. For the most part, that is. Using that technique rasengan will be explosive and much more damaging and harder to avoid. If Kabuto thinks he can use that 'no injury after hit' technique, try again.

And he knows the perfect person to help – Hinata. After all, Naruto knows from experience that you can't do everything alone, despite what Sasuke had thought – still thinks? While he'd had Jiraiya to learn from, Naruto has none of that now. But he does have his parents techniques, his own secret power. It had been the same last time around – Team 7 split evenly with the sannin but there had always been those people his team rarely talked about – Naruto reconnecting with his heritage, Sakura honing her darker Root side through Kabuto's techniques and Sasuke fighting but also carefully observing Madara and Obito. They all knew it, but none of them had ever said anything.

Their team won't be the powerhouse it once was, but if Naruto can just pull his weight and nudge his teammates – especially Sasuke – in the _right_ direction, there is potential.

Naruto senses Hinata emerging from the compound and grins – he won't have to brave the stifling compound to see her. Even though the clan had improved drastically after the war with Naruto himself working on a seal to free the branch, there were still strong tensions there. Not to mention Naruto himself had died before ever completing the project.

"Hinata!" Naruto calls out, jogging over to where the Hyuuga heiress is walking, flowers in her hands. "How are you?"

Hinata looks up and smiles softly. "I'm alright I guess."

Naruto pauses. "I guess?"

Hinata sighs. "A Hyuuga elder died today."

Naruto's face drops. "Aw no, Hinata-chan I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Hinata says quietly. "I didn't know her that well anyway. She was always scary too but I- I admired her you know, for staying strong. It's hard to there."

"Yeah," Naruto agrees, Hinata's description echoing the Sakura of a past life.

"But Kitomi-san said it'd be good for me to get out of the compound so I'm taking some flowers to mother's grave – Arumi, the elder, will be buried next to her."

"That's nice," Naruto says quietly. His dad was simply remembered with a tombstone, his body hidden away somewhere else while his mother didn't even have that luxury. The kyuubi attack had decimated the village, leaving Konoha cemeteries overflowing.

"Yeah," Hinata says softly. "Wanna walk with me?"

Naruto smiles. "I'd love to."

Naruto walks alongside the heiress in silence. He can't ask her anything about his technique now – definitely not – but he's comfortable just walking along her. It's been awhile since he's really grieved but the feeling anchors him to this time and reminds him even harder of why he has to get stronger.

"You mentioned Kitomi-san," Naruto says quietly, breaking the silence. "I met her yesterday actually, in the Hokage Tower. Sakura introduced me."

"Kitomi-san can be judging," Hinata says with a small laugh, no doubt having guessed the jounin's first reaction to the jinchuuriki. "But she's a good person. She likes Sakura. Everyone back there likes Sakura – I don't think they ever thought I'd make a friend."

"Oh no Hinata that's not true," Naruto says. And he knows that Hinata probably just sees his words as meaningless platitudes but he means them with the whole of his heart.

"But it can be good, I suppose. Sakura-chan was kind enough to stay behind and take care of my duties for me so that I could go out."

Naruto smiles softly – even at this age Sakura is already working that political brain of hers, no doubt winning the support of the Hyuuga.

"Sakura's a good kid," Naruto agrees.

Hinata glances over at him before smiling. "You like her? Like, _like _her?"

Naruto chuckles. He loves her, like he loves Sasuke, the same way Team 7 loves each other. But there'd always been too much history between them, too many betrayals, tricks and pain. Team 7 will never be the way it was at twelve.

But maybe… this time it can happen. Even though he'll never be able to crush on his teammate the same, innocent way anymore, perhaps Sakura will grow to love Sasuke like she did last time around, like perhaps she was always supposed to. Maybe this time around, he'll even grow to love her back.

And he won't kill her, and Naruto won't kill him, and he won't be the only one left of Team 7 before Kurama drags him out of his self-pitying hell hole.

"I like her," Naruto says truthfully. "I do."

"But not that way," Hinata notes quietly.

"No," Naruto agrees. "Not that way."

"Pity," Hinata sighs. "You would've been good to her."

_I would've been good to you._

Naruto pinches himself. Leaving Hinata behind had been his guiltiest moment but this time around he'll make things better. He'll save Neji, Hiashi. Hanabi will still be young, determined, and _happy. _Hinata will be able to be the mother she always wanted to be. This time around Hinata will be whole and not _fractured. _

They reach the Hyuuga's private plots to the east of Konoha's main cemetery. Hinata crouches down, placing the flowers down below the gravestone dedicated to the Hyuuga matriarch. She bows and whispers words, Naruto standing respectfully behind.

His eyes flitter over to the Uchiha's plot – one marked by a large cenotaph for all those killed in the massacre. The individual names are carved on it, much like the memorial stone Kakashi had pointed out this morning.

In another life, he made sure Sasuke's was carved there too, despite the protests of many.

But this time his name won't lie there. Nor will Sakura's be carved into the memorial stone. This time Team 7 will _survive._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>Things are starting to heat up. Good news is in a bout of inspiration I mapped out exactly when and how the big reveal will happen. I even wrote a few snippets so I'm quite excited about that, and hopefully it'll live up to my and your expectations. So yeah, stay excited!

Thanks to **Guest, usaginekohime, Please send me messages, Lonely Athena, Kyoshu Koi, noodlepower, the Hate Child, Yaki532, Suzululu4moe, kaed1234, Enigma infinite, Broken Reveries, Guest, Guest, CrazyScythe, Shinen no Hikari, Guest, uqoxe24, depressedchildren, Bananarock509, Dragonlord1199 **and **Guest **for your comments!

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and sorry nothing much happened but I'm really excited for the next chapter because it's Wave! If you have any thoughts/suggestions/critiques feel free to leave a comment and let me know x


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